MALVERN Town drew 1-1 away at Melksham Town as the Hillsiders played out a third successive stalemate.
Sam Clark drew the visitors level shortly before half time after Jamal Lawrence put the home side ahead at the Meads of Melksham Community Stadium.
However, the Hillsiders played with 10-men for more than half an hour after Harry Clark received a straight red card moments after his introduction from the bench.
The result means Malvern remain second in the Southern League Division One South table, eight points clear of the chasing pack in the race for a play-off place.
Melksham made a strong start as Malvern goalkeeper Josh Bishop made a stunning stop on 10 minutes as he threw himself to his right to tip Leon Hardman’s venomous effort over the crossbar.
The visitors saw appeals for a penalty turned away soon after as S Clark went to ground in the box after he burst into the penalty area.
However, Melksham broke the deadlock on 20 minutes when Levi Irving flicked a long kick from the goalkeeper into the path of Lawrence who lobbed the ball over an advancing Bishop.
Malvern equalised on 37 minutes as S Clark met Charlie Johnson’s cross with a powerful header which found the net to draw the Hillsiders level.
Tempers boiled over on the stroke of half time after Joe Bullock’s shot from the edge of the penalty area appeared to strike the arm of a Melksham player in the box.
The referee waved away Malvern’s appeals again before an altercation on the touchline spilled onto the pitch.
Following the resulting melee, the referee showed Hillsiders boss Lee Hooper a red card with a member of the Melksham coaching staff also sent off.
And the fiery feel to the game continued after the break when H Clark saw red on 56 minutes just one minute after coming off the bench.
Despite playing with a man less, the visitors looked the more likely side to take the lead as Malvern limited Melksham to a series of corners late on.
The closest either side came to finding a winner saw Dion Molyneux head Johnson’s corner narrowly wide in injury time.
Malvern are next in action against Falmouth Town on Saturday, Februray 28 with kick-off at 3pm at the HDAnywhere Community Stadium.
