SAM Higgins scored on his return from injury to earn East Thurrock United a 1-1 draw at Poole Town.

Higgins - who had managed just six minutes of action this season prior to his comeback on Saturday - fired home an equaliser four minutes from time.

And Rocks boss John Coventry was happy to see the prolific striker on target on his first game back from a hamstring injury.

“Sam came on for the last 25 minutes and did what he does best by getting the goal which was great to see,” said Coventry.

“We’ve been patient with him due to the nature of his injury but he gets goal and he’s done it again here.

“He had already missed a decent chance before scoring and, in the end, I’m not too sure how we haven’t won the game.

“But when you say that you forget about the first half where I felt we were quite poor.

“They were better than us in that first 45 minutes and we had to change a few things around.

“In the second half we were a completely different side and we fully deserved at least a point.”

Poole, who started the day sitting fourth in the National League South table, started brightly with Luke Roberts firing just wide.

Rocks goalkeeper Lucas Lidakevicius was then forced to make a couple of good stops before he was finally beaten just two minutes before the break when he collected a pass from Marvin Brooks to fire home.

The visitors began to improve after the break with former Southend United striker James Walker turning his marker before firing just wide.

Moments later, Harry Honesty teed up the returning Higgins but his shot also went wide of the target.

However, Higgins - who has scored 89 goals in the past two seasons - was not to be denied for long and he secured a point for the Rocks in the 86th minute as he converted a corner at the far post to ensure the game ended all square.

The share of the spoils saw East Thurrock move up to eighth in the table as their unbeaten run also stretched to five matches.

However, Rocks face a tough looking test this weekend as they host league leaders Maidenhead United who are currently seven points clear at the top of the table.

East Thurrock United: Lidakevius, Burns (Honesty 63), Sammons, Clark (Higgins 63), Ellul, Craddock, Harris, Freiter (Gardner 77), Walker, Ferdinand, Wraight.

Subs not used: Marlow & Wood