STEPHEN Cleal praised his side’s positive reaction after Malvern Town came from two goals down to draw 3-3 at Bideford AFC in a six-goal thriller.
After Lewis Spurrier fired the visitors into the lead, William Tucker struck twice for the home side either side of Javan Wright’s goal to put Bideford in command at the Sports Ground.
However, Jack Watts reduced the deficit from the penalty spot just before the hour mark and Spurrier scored his second of the game soon after to ensure the Hillsiders came away with a share of the spoils.
Malvern finished the game with 10-men after Miles Ferguson received a straight red card in injury time.
The result means Malvern sit eighth in the Southern League Division One South table, five points outside of the play-off places.
And after the Hillsiders stretched their unbeaten run to five league matches, Cleal felt his side managed the disappointment of going behind well.
Cleal said: “If you look at their results at home, they’re very difficult to beat and hard-working, you know what you get with a Bideford side.
“We went one-nil up deservedly and then took our foot off the gas a little bit, things went against us and we go in behind at half time.
“We concede a goal after nine minutes in the second half, then it’s three-one.
“I said to the lads about managing disappointments better and especially in the second half of the second half we were the better side and should have gone on and won the game.
“All in all, a point is not a bad result. If you can’t win you don’t lose so it’s not a bad point.
“We haven’t conceded for a few games so to concede the three goals is disappointing.
“The way we reacted was positive, in previous games we would have folded a little bit. For us to go and kick on again and look like the better side in the second half was good.
“It’s a local derby [against Evesham this weekend] so hopefully we can pack the ground out and give the fans the three points.
“Evesham are up there flying, we’ve got two big home games in Evesham and Exmouth next and we’ll see where we are after that.”
The visitors started brightly when Ferguson saw his long throw flicked into the path of Watts who saw his shot blocked before the visitors also blocked Joe Bullock’s follow-up.
At the other end Joe Tumelty recovered well to clear the danger after Bideford delivered a ball into the box from the right.
Malvern broke the deadlock on 24 minutes when Spurrier volleyed the ball down into the ground and over Bideford goalkeeper Michael Searle from a long throw towards the back post from the left.
However, Bideford equalised four minutes as Tucker finished a square ball across the box with Malvern furiously appealing for offside in the build up.
And the home side completed the turnaround two minutes before the break when Wright fired a shot into the roof of the net following a break down the right.
Bideford extended their lead nine minutes into the second period as Tucker slid a shot under Josh Bishop to score his second of the game after Malvern failed to deal with a long ball over the top.
The Hillsiders responded four minutes later when Sam Clark broke into the penalty area and drew a foul in the box as Watts converted the resulting penalty.
And Malvern thought they should have had another penalty moments later with Clark again felled in the box only for the referee to wave away the visitors’ protests.
However, the Hillsiders drew level on 65 minutes when Spurrier grabbed his second of the game when Adam Sauntson flicked on another long throw to the back post.
Both teams searched for a winner before Ferguson saw red for a challenge on the halfway line in injury time.
Malvern are next in action against local rivals Evesham United on Saturday, February 15 with kick-off at 3pm at the HDAnywhere Community Stadium.
