Following a hazardous journey across the A66 to fulfil their midweek fixture against Durham United, Windscale snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
Leading 1-0 with five minutes left to play, the Atoms conceded three late goals to hand the points to Durham.
In bad weather Windscale made the journey with a depleted squad due to injury and work commitments taking a little while to settle into the game.
Durham, therefore, had the lion’s share of possession, pressing high without creating any clear-cut chances.
The Atoms got a foothold in the game after 20 minutes and their best effort was created by Reece Fretwell who threaded a defence splitting pass through to Lewis Jolly, with his shot just clearing the crossbar.
Durham had the chance to take the lead shortly before half-time but Lee Jolly denied them with a great save low down at his near post.
Unfortunately the Atoms’ injury list grew longer seconds before the break when Will Rooke was forced to leave the field with a hamstring pull.
The start of the second period was the Atoms best spell of the game with Lewis Selkirk forcing a good save from the Durham custodian.
Lewis Jolly, now deployed as a centre forward in the absence of Rooke, caused Durham a few anxious moments with his pace.
It was the industrious Selkirk who broke the deadlock in the 74th minute. Picking-up a through ball, he carried it beyond a defender before depositing it into the net from 20 yards.
With 15 minutes left to play and with a 1-0 lead, the Atoms should have been happy to repel any attacks, ensuring any clearances ended up in row Z.
This was not the case, and with 85 minutes played disaster struck. Durham were awarded a corner and levelled the scores from the resulting kick.
Not content with taking home a hard-earned point, Windscale dallied, conceded a needless free kick, and the hosts took full advantage to take a 2-1 lead before adding a third with the last kick of the game.
The result was hard to take for the Atoms however, as the commitment of the squad who travelled for the fixture cannot be criticised.
Due to the weather their return journey was extended due to the closure of the A66, some getting home as late as 3am. They had a day to recover before taking on Darlington RA this afternoon at the Falcon Complex with a 2pm kick-off.
