Windscale made the midweek trip to fourth-placed Norton, their third away fixture in the last eight days in the Wearside League.
Despite the signs looking ominous the Cumbrians came back with a richly deserved point from a 2-2 draw.
Prior to departing West Cumbria they experienced two late withdrawals from the squad and due to traffic issues on the journey across to the north east, they arrived minutes prior to the scheduled kick-off time leaving very little time for match preparation.
The Atoms were under pressure for the first 15 minutes,with some resolute defending required to keep the game scoreless.
The visitor’s first foray on the Norton goal ended with a Matt Metcalf shot just clearing the crossbar. It was shortly after this that Norton took the lead. Marcus Laing found himself in space at a corner kick and headed the cross unchallenged into the net.
Despite this set-back, Windscale were beginning to exert some influence in the game. Andrew Begbie was put through one-on-one with the Norton keeper but was unable to convert the chance.
It was Norton who doubled their tally against the run of play when Nicky Martin, with a neat finish, gave them a 2-0 lead.
Windscale’s response came via Lewis White, picking up the ball in midfield. He raced beyond the Norton defence, chipping the ball over the advancing keeper.
The Atoms were dictating play at this point and were unfortunate not to level the scores when Ross Leeson went close with an angled shot but it stayed 2-1 at the break.
The Atoms had the bit between their teeth following the restart, working a number of scoring opportunities.
Lewis Jolly’s cross from the right was headed just over by Metcalf while Pierce saw a cleared off the line. It was Metcalf again, through one-on-one with the keeper, had his initial shot and his effort from the rebound saved by the keeper.
With the game going into added time, it was centre back Dan Morgan who provided the reward that Windscale deserved.
Deserting his defensive duties, he was in the Norton penalty area to force the ball home from a long throw in to bring parity to the scores at 2-2.
The result was nothing less than the Windscale walking wounded deserved, with the management team proud of the way in which they battled through despite the obstacles prior to the fixture.
This was the concluding mid-week fixture for the Atoms who now face South Moor at the Falcon Complex on Saturday with a 2:30 kick-off.
