Kingswood 1 Longlevens 1 LONGLEVENS were denied an away victory at Kingswood as midfielder Gavin Dibden scored the equaliser to earn the home team a point.

Lee Allen gave Longlevens the lead in the 34th minute when he headed home Gary Ash's cross. But with 10 minutes gone in the second half Dibden scored after a goalmouth scramble in the visiting team's penalty area.

The visitors had a chance to snatch victory late on when Gary Ash broke the off-side trap, but with only the goalkeeper to beat Ash decided to delay his shot giving the home defence time to recover and make a tackle.

With only one win in eight games Kingswood were desperate to get the New Year off to a prosperous start. Manager, Ian Evans emphasised to his players that getting back into to a winning run was imperative and that there were still many points to be won in the second half of the season.

Longlevens boss Sean Hancox named an attack-minded team with six changes made to the side that lost 5-0 in the Reg Davis Memorial Cup Final against Kingswood.

The visitors edged the first half creating some good chances that needing saving from goalkeeper Adam Eldridge.

Kingswood had few chances in the first half with Ben Vale's 40-yard effort easily saved by Craig Chambers.

After the break it was the visitors who enjoyed greater possession and they were rewarded when Dibden fired home an equaliser with 35 minutes remaining.

Poor finishing undermined the host's superiority and Ian Gosling's long-range effort drifted wide.

With both teams pressing for a late victory, the action became heated at times but when the final whistle was blown each side walked off the pitch knowing that the draw was probably the fair result.

Longlevens manager Hancox commented: "I can't believe Kingswood's position in the league as they are possibly the strongest side we have played against this season."

Kingswood's manager, Evans said: "There are still plenty of points to play for and my players will be fighting for every single one of them to climb the league table."