An absorbing and entertaining encounter finished all-square at the Mile End Stadium as City recovered from being two down at the break to end the game at 2-2.

Hamlets were much the better side in the first half and were probably good value for their half-time lead. City made a couple of changes for the restart and were much better in the second, pulling the two goals back and, in a rather hectic ending, looked the more likely to grab a winner.

On a very warm and sunny afternoon and before any football was played, there was a time for everyone present to reflect with a minute’s silence in honour of Arman Morshed, a dedicated volunteer and passionate supporter of Soul Tower Hamlets who tragically lost his life in a car accident last Saturday, a respectful silence enveloped the ground and it was impeccably observed.

City had the first sights of goal in the game as Connor Coyne tried his luck from distance but saw his bouncing volley go wide, while he and Mo Cham almost opened Hamlets up but were denied by keeper Ali Ozcelik plus a bit of good home fortune!

Having said that, it was the hosts that almost opened the scoring on eight minutes when a good move found Casey Nolan-Samuels on the right and he launched a shot across City keeper Tom Benham’s boughs, but he made an agile and strong block which allowed a defender to clear the ball from danger.

From the resulting corner, Karmal Duncan fired well over the City bar before Nolan-Samuels got through again, this time fizzing a ball right across the front of the City goal which luckily evaded everybody when any sort of touch would have turned it home.

The hosts were definitely looking the sharper, but City had their chances too as a Coyne prod was collected by Ozcelik, while several dead ball situations came and went without profit.

On nineteen minutes, the dead-lock was broken when Hamlets took the lead. A corner was swung in and Benham again made a smart close-range block before the ball cannoned back out and after a swing and a miss from one home player the ball came out to Louie John Maxwell who rifled it back home through a crowd of players for 0-1.

City had chances to respond with a corner and an attacking long throw, while Coyne had the ball in the box but couldn’t quite get a shot off and it was snaffled away from him as he was engulfed by ‘close-fitting’ opponents.

At the other end, City were again indebted to Benham as Joao Silva Cruz marauded his way through but was denied by a splendid point-blank spreading block from the keeper as he rushed out to close the attacker down, while barely a minute later another home chance went begging as Junior Likosso’s whipped in cross – after City had lost the ball in midfield, was perfect for Timithy Monsheju to head home from four yards out, but it is anybody’s guess as to how he didn’t manage to make any sort of contact!

City then went close to opening their account after a long throw from Luke Illsley saw two shots from Leighton Murray and one from Rob Lawrence all blocked in and around the edge of the box. Nothing doing there, but then with a minute to go before the break, City fell further behind when a big clearance from the back was launched into the box and as the ball fell among a group of players near the post, it was Monsheju who got the telling touch, smuggling the ball home from close range for 0-2.

City closed the half with a long shot from Harry Maher slicing wide which saw them going into the break a couple of goals adrift and with some work to do in the second-half.

They made a couple of changes for the restart introducing Jamie Obianigwe and Jake McCarthy into the fray and City began their pursuit of a recovery, knowing full well that in every two-nil scoreline, the next goal is often so, so crucial.

The opening exchanges of the second-half were dominated by City. Mackenzie Rand-Brade saw a shot go over the bar for the hosts but apart from that all the pressure and attacking progress was coming from the visitors. Lawrence saw a distance volley worry the keeper as he scuttled across his goal, but the ball curled just wide of the angle, while a Luka Radojevic header went over.

There were some stifled appeals for a City penalty that were quickly waved away while a series of corners and long throws threatened the Hamlets’ defence, one of which saw Mo Cham volley over from the edge of the box.

The hosts rode that period though and Benham was soon called upon again, firstly to safely hold a long-range effort from Richard Ojo and then to make another superb blocking save as a quick throw saw Monsheju burst through clean on goal.

City continued to press however and after they almost crafted an opening from a corner, the hurried clearance won them a free-kick right near the edge of the box. There looked to be plenty of options among the City players eying the situation up, but it was Cham who stepped forward and drilled a fierce low shot right through the wall and past the keeper to make the score1-2 and deservedly get City back into the game.

Maher was then completely upended as he slalomed though down the right as Hamlets’ frustrations were showing and they desperately tried to slow the game down even further than they had already been doing.

There were loads of extended stoppages as they tried to take the sting out of the City momentum and eventually it came back to bite them when City scored a second. After yet another stoppage when Ozcelik deliberately threw the ball out to try to force through a substitution his team were waiting to make, City obviously decided enough was enough and that all the dilly-dallying and time-wasting had reached it’s limit. They lined up to retain and attack the possession from the throw – as did Hamlets to defend it and Joe Nelder duly hurled it into the box but no-one picked up Illsley who ran through and thumped a header home for 2-2.

It might have divided opinions after, but there didn’t seem to be too many complaints from the home side on the field at the time!

City continued to press forward looking for what had seemed an unlikely winner and laid siege to the home goal but just couldn’t quite prise another door open despite a free-kick opportunity as Coyne was dragged to the ground or man-handled to the floor for the umpteenth time!

With a minute of normal time remaining, Benham again came to the rescue with a stunning point-blank save as Hamlets almost benefitted from a ball that had rebounded fortuitously into their path, before his counterpart Ozcelik made an equally crucial stop at the other end with a last ditch block with his out-stretched foot to deny Cham who had ploughed his way through on goal.

In a hectic period of added time and to underline just how much had been lost during the game, the referee added twelve minutes to the ninety and full credit to him for doing so and the game went into end-to-end mode as both sides sought a winner. Substitute Dolapo Oladipupo fired over the bar for City, while Ozcelik made a brave claim as Maher swung in a free-kick. City looked the more likely to get the crucial third and went closest when Nelder sneaked around the back of another Maher ball in but could only plant his firm header narrowly over from a tightish angle.

The game ended soon after with the spoils shared which was probably fair enough and means both sides retained their unbeaten start to the season with two wins and a draw each.

Final score: Soul Tower Hamlets 2 Canterbury City 2