STEETON twice surrendered the lead against Atherton LR to draw 2-2 at Marley on Saturday in their 100th match in the NWCFL First Division North.

Andy Briggs, Toby Jeffrey and Alistair Morgan are the only players left at the club to have played in the Chevrons’ bow in this division in 2018, but this was not to be a repeat of their 2-1 victory that day.

In a game of two halves, Steeton should have put the game to bed before the break, and Kayle Price’s tap-in in the 28th minute set them on course to do just that.

After conceding a shock goal from the restart, Briggs restored Steeton’s advantage shortly before the interval, but the visitors came out firing in the second half, with Travis Boyles’ 70th-minute equaliser a just reward for their efforts.

Roy Mason deviated from his usual 4-3-3 in favour of a 4-4-2 formation, a decision that looked to be paying off when Briggs latched onto Jeffrey’s cross before seeing his shot cleared off the line inside the opening 10 minutes.

Briggs and Jeffrey forced Atherton stopper Ollie Culkin into routine saves before catching out the visiting defence to open the scoring midway through the half.

A neat one-two between Jack Lynn and Jeffrey down the right wing resulted in the latter delivering a superb cross for Price to net his 24th of the season with the simplest of tap-ins at the far post.

However, the Chevrons’ lead lasted just 90 seconds, with Luke Nicholls meeting George Chadwick’s delivery to power a header past Stuart Cross from the restart.

The equaliser did not deter the hosts, who squandered two further chances before retaking the lead three minutes before the break.

Briggs exchanged passes with Luke Baldwin down the left flank before firing towards goal, his strike proving too powerful for Culkin, who spilled the ball over the line.

Atherton brought Jordan Dainty off the bench during the interval, and that set the tone for them to grab the game by the scruff of the neck in a much-improved second half.

The Chevrons began to switch off and had the impressive Cross to thank for preserving their lead after giving away a series of dangerous free-kicks on the edge of the box.

Jeffrey and Max Fenton also provided crucial blocks as Atherton pushed forward, but the pressure began to tell, and the visitors scored a deserved equaliser in the 70th minute.

Boyles drove forward down the left before cutting inside and unleashing a thunderbolt from the edge of the box into the bottom corner.

Substitute Joe Snowden forced Culkin into a sensational save one-on-one in a rare Steeton attack, but it was the visitors who came the closest to taking the three points after Ollie Wright was flagged for offside from a free-kick on halfway in injury time.

Atherton remain in the relegation zone, while Steeton join neighbours Campion on 31 points from their 26 games thus far, ahead of a tough trip to Cumbria to face promotion-chasing Holker Old Boys on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).

Before that, the Chevrons are in a repeat of their controversial West Riding County Cup loss last week as they host Brighouse Town in a friendly at Marley tomorrow night (kick-off 7:45pm).