A ninety-sixth minute equaliser heartbreakingly denied Canterbury City all three points in this Division One game away at Lewisham Borough.

A stunning volley from Mo Cham gave them a second-half lead, but in a frantic finish and despite some heroic play, City couldn’t quite see the game out before a last-chance and mightily relieved Borough struck late on to snatch the victory from their grasp!

The opening minutes saw a bit of a midfield battle with neither side quickly clicking into gear, although the hosts did have the first three efforts on goal. Bryan Zepo struck a centrally placed free-kick firmly but comfortably over the City bar, while keeper Tom Benham made two fairly routine saves to deny both Zepo and Darrell Thompson.

City responded well though and Rob Lawrence tried to lob a bouncing ball over home keeper Khiani Shombe from the edge of the box, but he took a big step back to gather and then after some excellent hold up play, Cham saw his shot also safely taken. At the other end, Ade Adeyinka on the stretch headed over for Borough while Zepo then went close, flicking the ball up and volleying it just past the angle.

City had their opportunities too, Louie Procopi saw his shot blocked in the box, while Shombe safely dealt with Cham’s dangerous cross before the keeper saved from Lawrence in what was starting to look a fairly tight and even first-half.

Zacchius Ajose then saw his shot blocked by his own man in the City box before Benham, again looking assured in goal for City, climbed well to take a Donnell Scarlett cross out of harm’s way.

In a mysterious five added minutes signalled at the end of the first period, both sides could have taken the lead before the break. After the best move of the match so far saw City turn defence into attack and almost slice through the Lewisham ranks and be in on goal, a hurried clearance saw the ball hoisted long and up-field. Bouncing high towards the City box, I think it’s fair to say that Zepo read the bounce better than City’s defenders and he turned only to slew a low shot inches wide of the post.

A tough and competitive first-half therefore ended goalless but with plenty to keep a decent sized crowd braving the cold, more than interested!

The restart was noticeable due to an ever falling temperature, but on the field it carried on in much the same vein. Khayrie Harris had the first attempt, bending a handily placed Borough free-kick around the City wall, but Benham was quickly across to make a safe and secure falling save, while moments later, Borough’s Ryan Brown badly sliced a long shot well wide.

Cham then fired a City free-kick straight into the home wall, but although City retrieved the ball well, the attempted follow-up was quickly flagged offside. The hosts then just looked to be upping the pressure a little and saw a couple of chances quickly pass them by. The first came from Zepo whose powerfully struck low free-kick flew just wide of the far City post while Brown’s next try from distance was again well struck, but was also equally well blocked in the box!

On sixty-eight minutes, City gave a perfect response by taking the lead and what a superb goal it was. A well-engineered cross from the right by Jake McCarthy was initially headed out, but it fell kindly for Cham who smashed a terrific flying volley past the diving Shombe and into the net for 1-0 to City – a cracking strike!

I don’t think Lewisham had that in their game plan and for a good few minutes it knocked them back. A little frustration crept in from them and a lot of determination dug in for City and when Benham pulled off a brilliant point blank save to deny Nana Kufour, it only added to their woes.

The hosts were desperate to increase the tempo but City weren’t having it! Benham safely took another cross under pressure to calm their hurries and then made a super one-handed close in stop down to his right to deny Kufour again. He followed that up by commandingly gathering an in-swinging corner which just further increased the host’s worries, as just about every City player at some point made a good block, or a timely tackle or a crucial contribution.

City were in fact doing very well to manage the last few minutes of the game out, holding onto their lead and they could have improved it if either of Harry Bradford’s byline pull backs could have been capitalised on by a City shirt!

Another high, hoisted ball into the box was again well taken by Benham and as the watch turned to ninety minutes, his clearance was ushered down to the far corner for City to try and wile the time away.

If we’d wondered where the five minutes of added time came from in the first-half – and we did, when eight minutes went up for the second, there was even more astonishment to be seen and heard!

It was just what City didn’t want to see, but was a lifeline for the hosts and they took full advantage of it. In an ever increasing frantic and frenetic ending, they struck back in the sixth minute of the eight when a corner was swung in and after the ball had been headed up in the air twice, Adeyinka rose the highest to nod the ball home into the side of the goal to equalise and leave City deflated and devastated!

However, that nearly wasn’t the end of it and as more time was added on, both sides could have snatched a win. City’s chance came just after they’d conceded and came out of nowhere when McCarthy charged after a through ball only to be beaten to it by a split second by Shombe well outside of his box, but the race was so tight, the keeper’s clearance just rocketed back off the City player and started rolling towards the goal only for a defender to suddenly come covering back and hoof the ball off the line to safety!

Then almost immediately, down the other end, a dropping ball fell kindly for Borough in the box, but the attempted swipe at it right in front of goal was completely mis-hit and it enabled City this time to scramble the ball clear and away just seconds before the final whistle blew.

City may well have taken a point at the start of the day being away to the team in second place, but going right up until ninety-five minutes and a goal in front, it really did feel like a defeat!

A tough one for them to take, but still an outstanding performance from the team – tough, dogged and determined when needed with some fluency and attacking flair thrown in!

Final score: Canterbury City 1 Lewisham Borough 1

City: Tom Benham, Luka Radojevic, Darren Cooper (Liam Cormack), Luke Illsley, Louie Procopi, Jake McCarthy, Alfie Giles, Rob Lawrence, Harry Maher, Harry Bradford, Mo Cham (Leo Dodds).

Unused Subs: Monty Saunders, Petar Radojevic, Sam Wilson