STEETON saw their five-match unbeaten run coming to a heartbreaking end at the hands of early season pacesetters Atherton Laburnum Rovers.

On the day in which the country clamoured for Oasis tickets, manager Roy Mason must have felt up in the sky as it looked like his side had dug deep to take what some might say was a well-deserved point home.

But as a deflected 96th minute effort, two minutes more than the official had added initially, hit the back of the Chevrons net, seeing the point slide away, it was a case of trying to not look back in anger for those in green.

The opening 15 minutes of the afternoon went the way of the home side as the league leaders pushed to find the opening goal.

Somehow, they squandered a golden opportunity in the tenth minute as Tom Romano cut inside from the wing to round the entire Steeton right edge, yet with an open goal at his mercy, the ball got stuck beneath his feet allowing Dan Illingworth to recover and make a challenge on the line.

Harvey Kelly made two good one-on-one saves in goal to keep parity as the visitors began to grow into the game.

The first talking point of the afternoon came as Jake Townsend won the ball in a 50/50 challenge near to the Atherton box.

This challenge raised the ire of right-back George Chadwick and led to the pair getting involved in a spat, leaving the referee no option but to intervene.

Townsend very nearly had the last laugh almost immediately, seeing a curling effort bend just wide of the far post before forcing Joe Bickerstaffe in the Laburnums goal to tip his effort from range over the bar.

And on the brink of half time, Josh Debenham found himself free to meet an Owen Williamson delivery into the six-yard box but saw his header clear the bar.

In the second half, despite applying a significant amount of pressure down the slope towards the hosts’ goal, the home side struggled to create opportunities against a resolute Chevvies defensive unit.

The closes they would come in regulation time was midway through the half when skipper Arley Barnes got behind his keeper to clear a goal bound effort off the line.

Controversy came in the final minute of normal time.

After some good build up play around the edge of the Rovers box, Harvey Green found space to manoeuvre into the area where the midfielder was hacked down by Chadwick.

Despite strong appeals from all those in Steeton shirts, the referee waved the shout, instead awarding a corner.

And that was not the last of the officials’ controversial decisions as the game entered additional time.

Allocating four minutes, there were no further stoppages or substitutes, yet the referee allowed play to continue for a further three minutes.

And in the second of those three, the sucker punch and winning goal for the home side came.

From a late corner, Lance Haughton swung his boot as the ball bounced on the edge of the area.

Making contact, his strike would cruelly deflected off the face of Illingworth and squirmed beneath the outstretched arm of Kelly at his near post and nestled into the bottom corner.

It proved to be a heartbreaking end to an otherwise afternoon filled with positives, as the Chevrons look to bounce back on the road next Saturday at in-form Ashton Athletic.