Albion left it late before earning an honourable 1-1 draw against Oxford in an Avon Insurance Combination match on

Oxford City's Court Place Farm ground yesterday afternoon.

Four minutes from the end, full back Robbie Pethick was inches off target with a speculative 35-yard shot struck with the outside of his right boot which flashed the wrong side of a post, but 90 seconds later the visitors' refusal to give up was rewarded.

A scramble developed on Oxford's goalline and although there were two defenders closest to the ball, Shaun Wilkinson got a foot to it and forced it into the net.

A goalline clearance by Robert Lovegrove denied Albion's Rupert Sansom in the second minute and as the visitors got more purposeful in midfield, pushed forward, Chris McPhee nodded a Sansom cross to the unmarked Daniel Marney who headed straight at goalkeeper Richard Knight.

Defences were generally on top until the 58th minute when another Daniel, Harding, powered a header narrowly past an Oxford post.

Five minutes later a run by Manny Omoyinmi from deep inside his own half took him clear of Brighton's defence and Chris Hackett finished off the move with an angled drive past Albion goalkeeper Will Packham.

Albion: Packham; Pethick, Jackson, Hammond, Hemsley, Melton, Wilkinson, Harding, Marney, McPhee, Sansom (Beck 67 mins). Subs: Greatwich, Bryant, Brindle, El-Abd.