Jack Pearce praised the battling qualities of his Bognor side as they came from behind twice to earn a point against Lewes.

The Rooks looked on course for another important victory in their quest for the Conference south play-offs until Dan Beck snatched a late equaliser at a wet and windy Nyewood Lane last night.

The visitors had created the majority of the chances in an entertaining match but only had a fine strike from Karl Beckford, which was cancelled out by Ben Watson early in the second half, and an own goal to show for their efforts.

Pearce said: "I cannot fault the attitude of my players. We could have been out of it after 15 minutes because of the number of mistakes we made but came back strongly and I think a draw was a fair reflection over the 90 minutes."

Both sides handed debuts to new signings. Lewes included former Middlesbrough and Crystal Palace defender Dean Gordon at leftback while Bognor featured Richard Hodgson, who was at Crawley earlier this season, in midfield.

Gordon, 32, has joined the Rooks on a non-contract game-by-game basis after leaving League One side Blackpool.

Lewes manager Steven King is delighted to capture a player who has made nearly 300 League appearances and cost Middlesbrough £900,000 in 1998. He said: "Dean has been a friend of mine for 15 years. When Mark Wright was recalled by Southend, we were struggling for a leftback and Dean has agreed to help out."

The kick-off was delayed 15 minutes as some of the Lewes players had been held up on their way to the ground but it was Bognor's defence which seemed to be elsewhere early in the game.

A mistake by Ben Johnson in only the fourth minute gave Beckford a sight of goal but he dragged his shot wide of the far post and four minutes later Jean-Michel Sigere wasted an even better chance when he shot weakly at Craig Stoner.

Luke Fontana was guilty of missing the next opportunity when he pulled a shot wide before Mo Harkin failed to hit the target under pressure from Stoner.

If the Rooks' finishing had been poor up to that point then Beckford's goal in the 21st minute was right out of the top drawer. The tricky midfielder jinked his way past two Bognor players before drilling a low shot just inside the post from 20 yards.

Falling behind seemed to wake up Bognor and they instantly went in search of an equaliser. They slowly began to find some fluency in their passing but the closest they came to levelling the scores was a 25-yard thunderbolt from Richard Hudson which Paul Wilkerson had to palm over.

Bognor continued to press after the break and should have equalised immediately from the restart when Watson beat the Lewes offside trap but shot narrowly wide.

The league's top scorer made no mistake in the 63rd minute though when he made it 1-1. Jodey Rowland's cross from the right was met powerfully by the head of Dan Beck and although Wilkerson did well to save the ball fell for Watson to tap home his 32nd, and probably easiest, goal of the season.

Now Lewes were forced to take the initiative and after Jamie Cade had gone close they retook the lead in the 81st minute. Beckford swung in a dangerous free-kick low towards the near post and Jamie Howell could only head into his own net.

Defeat would have been harsh on Bognor and they made sure of the point they deserved two minutes from time.

Wilkerson had pulled off a fantastic save to deny Hudson but from the resulting corner Beck headed home.

Bognor Regis: Stoner, Piper, Rowland, Beck, Balfe, Murphy, Watson, Howell (sub Budd 83), Hudson, Johnson, (sub D.Birmingham 79) Hodgson. Subs not used: Kirkwood, Hunwick.

Lewes: Wilkerson, Sangere, Gordon, Beckford, Robinson, Legge (sub Lovett 69), Harkin (sub Watts 74), Kennett, Fontana (sub Kember 61), Sigere, Cade. Subs not used: Gomis, Foyewa.

Referee: J Flynn (England)..

Attendance: 341.

Man-of-the-match: Karl Beckford (Lewes).