LEE Hooper admits Malvern Town have ‘nothing to lose’ after rescuing a late point in a 2-2 draw against Larkhall Athletic to stretch their unbeaten run to 13 matches.
An injury-time equaliser from Ryan Brunt earned the Hillsiders a point after Jack Watts had earlier drawn Malvern level at Plain Ham.
Larkhall led through Harvey Pritchard’s early strike before a late penalty from Max Williams put the home side back in front only for Brunt to level the game at the death.
The result means Malvern sit sixth in the Southern League Division One South table, outside of the play-off places on goal difference with five matches left to play.
And Hooper praised his side’s character to salvage a point so late in the game.
Hooper said: “It was a tough day at the office, we were decent in spells, we didn’t start very well, it was sloppy.
“We played some really good stuff up until our goal, once we scored we stepped off it a little bit.
“Neither team created much in the second half, I don’t know about the penalty, Bish thinks the player stood on him rather than the other way around.
“We showed character to stay in the game, we were quite wasteful in possession of the football but we salvaged a point and we’ve stayed unbeaten.
“We’ve got to keep our heads up and work on the stuff that didn’t quite go to plan.
“Character comes from within but we’ve got a good squad and players that can have an impact off the bench.
“It was about reactions, the way we’re playing and availability in our squad, we expected to come and get three points.
“That’s the standards we’ve set and the expectation we’ve set from the run we’re on.
“We’ve got nothing to lose, we’ve got momentum, every game we’re putting points on the board which is another achievement in the highest points tally the club has ever had at this level.
“We’ve got five games left and we want to put 15 points on the board and see where that takes us.”
Malvern made the worst possible start as Pritchard opened the scoring on three minutes after Josh Bishop made a fine initial save.
However, the Hillsiders drew level just five minutes later when Watts drew a foul in the box and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way from the penalty spot.
Larkhall almost reclaimed the lead moments later as Charlie Johnson cleared an effort from a corner off the line.
In an end-to-end contest, Watts cut inside from the left and saw his shot bounce off the foot of the post.
Chances were at a premium after the break before the game burst into life in the final 10 minutes.
Larkhall won a penalty on 83 minutes when the referee blew for a foul against Bishop in the box despite furious Malvern protests.
Williams stepped up and drove the ball down the middle of the goal to restore the home side’s lead.
And Larkhall almost sealed the points with a free-kick just outside the penalty area as Bishop produced a superb fingertip save to tip the ball behind for a corner.
However, the Hillsiders snatched a point two minutes into injury time as substitute Brunt pounced to force the ball home from close range after Dylan John spilt Watts’ initial header.
Malvern are next in action against Thatcham Town on Saturday, April 5 with kick-off at 3pm at the HDAnywhere Community Stadium.
