Hasting 2, East Thurrock United 2

AFTER a run of defeats, Rocks stopped the rot in Saturday's Ryman Premier League point in a rearranged match at Hastings, but they left the south coast knowing they would have won but for a plethora of missed chances.

East Thurrock were the dominant team throughout the first half but couldn't turn their chances into goals. The only real threat to the visitors in this period was the pace of striker Ade Olorunda and they weren't helped when central defender Dean Chandler hobbled out of the game on 23 minutes with a hamstring injury.

But by and large the action was at the other end where Lee Burns and Gary Ansell were guilty of a succession of misses.

Ansell was the first serious offender, shooting wide from Burns' cross then, between the 29th and 39th minutes Rocks set up and missed a string of great chances. Burns and Ansell were equally profligate, with Burns wasting the best of them when picking out keeper Lee Worgan when it seemed easier to score.

It looked as if those chances would haunt Rocks when Hastings opened the scoring two minutes into the second half when Bradley Steven was adjudged to have handled and Sam Adams converted the subsequent penalty.

Having been so wasteful earlier, it took Rocks just four minutes to get back on level terms and it was Ansell who made amends for his earlier errors, turning and shooting home after good work by Danny Harris.

And it was Harris who was to give Rocks the lead in the 73rd minute when a Burns corner was headed back into the box by Jamie Richards and Harris nodded it in.

The lead lasted just five minutes and the equaliser came from a Rocks mistake when Scott Curley, who is far from match fit but came off the bench as Rocks' depleted resources were stretched further, lost possession in midfield and Tom Poole took advantage to whip in a cross that was finished well by Adams.

The point lifts both sides a place in the table, with Rocks moving to ninth.

They take a break from league action in midweek, with a league cup trip to Margate when manager Lee Patterson faces the task of getting a side out from rapidly diminishing resources. Chandler looks likely to be out for some time, as is Steve West and Wes Faulkner while utility midfielder Steve Harrison has joined Brentwood.

Young keeper Jamie Riley is also off the books' for the moment, having been loaned to Sittingbourne.

Ryman Premier League, up to and inc Sat, Sept 29

  P W D L F A +/- Pts 1 Hendon 9 6 2 1 16 9 +7 20 2 Horsham 9 6 0 3 16 11 +5 18 3 Chelmsford City 9 5 2 2 21 8 +13 17 4 Ramsgate 9 5 2 2 17 9 +8 17 5 Boreham Wood 9 5 1 3 18 14 +4 16 6 Staines Town 8 4 3 1 16 6 +10 15 7 Hastings United 10 4 3 3 16 16 0 15 8 AFC Hornchurch 8 4 2 2 14 13 +1 14 9 East Thurrock United 10 4 2 4 13 15 -2 14 10 Harrow Borough 9 4 1 4 18 19 -1 13 11 Folkestone Invicta 9 4 1 4 11 13 -2 13 12 Billericay Town 9 3 3 3 18 13 +5 12 13 Margate 9 3 3 3 13 12 +1 12 14 Harlow Town 9 3 3 3 11 10 +1 12 15 AFC Wimbledon 9 3 3 3 10 9 +1 12 16 Carshalton Athletic 9 2 3 4 5 14 -9 9 17 Maidstone United 9 3 0 6 9 23 -14 9 18 Tonbridge Angels 9 2 2 5 13 15 -2 8 19 Wealdstone 9 2 2 5 16 21 -5 8 20 Leyton 9 2 2 5 14 22 -8 8 21 Ashford Town (Mx) 9 2 1 6 13 21 -8 7 22 Heybridge Swifts 9 0 5 4 9 14 -5 5