LONDON, CMC – Guyana midfielder Elliot Bonds gave Cheltenham Town an early lead, but it needed a last-gasp Alfie May equalizer to salvage a point for the Robins in a 2-2 English League One draw at Milton Keynes Dons on Saturday.
Striker May finished from close range after Caleb Taylor nodded Ryan Broom’s cross down in the seventh minute of added time.
Mo Eisa had netted twice to put the Dons on course for a vital victory after 23-year-old Jaguar Bonds’ opener on 12 minutes for Cheltenham.
May miss an earlier chance to level matters for the away side as he saw his penalty saved by Jamie Cumming 20 minutes from time, but his last-gasp finish – his 18th goal of the campaign – secured a point.
Cheltenham led against the run of play when Bonds capitalized on a poor ball out of the back by Cumming before rounding the goalkeeper and slotting into an empty net.
It was his second goal for Cheltenham this season, having also scored in a 2-1 win at Cambridge United in February.
Eisa’s first was a sharp finish after Conor Grant found Nathan Holland, who supplied the forward for his 11th of the season in all competitions.
He then made no mistake from the penalty spot after Tennai Watson was tripped by Will Ferry in the 59th minute.
Cheltenham boss Wade Elliott said: “We deserved something out of the game. We weren’t as good as we were on Monday [a 1-1 draw against promotion-seeking Ipswich Town], but we’ve had to show a lot of resolve and character to get the point in the manner that we did.”
He praised the side’s Jaguar: “I thought Bondsy was very good. He is also starting to add goals, which will be pleasing.”
At Technique Stadium in England’s fifth-tier National League, Grenada striker Kairo Mitchell helped Eastleigh fashion a 2-0 interval lead, but hosts Chesterfield scored two late goals to seal a 3-2 comeback win to move up to third.
With Wrexham and Notts County running away at the top of the table, 25-year-old Mitchell put the visitors ahead on 10 minutes – his fifth goal – before Charlie Carter doubled the advantage in 33 minutes.
However, the Spireites rallied after the break as Ryan Colclough pulled one back before completing a brace in the last minute before Andrew Dallas hit a last-gasp winner.
Mitchell, who debuted for Grenada’s Spice Boys in 2017, has scored three times for Eastleigh since joining them on loan in early February from title-chasing Notts County, where he netted twice earlier in the season.
At the Wham Stadium in the northwest, St Kitts and Nevis’ six-foot, four-inch defender Michael Nottingham’s 65th-minute goal proved in vain as 10-man Accrington Stanley were plunged deeper into League One relegation trouble by Jack Marriott’s hat-trick as they went down 5-2 against visitors Fleetwood Town.
The 33-year-old Nottingham headed home Mitch Clark’s ball into the area on 65 minutes, but Stanley’s hopes had already taken a big hit when, in the fourth minute of first-half added time, Liam Coyle saw red for a high challenge on Carl Johnston.
Jordan Bowery, a 31-year-old forward whose St Kitts and Nevis-born father Bert played professionally in England and the United States, helped Mansfield Town move into the League Two play-off places on goals scored after a 1-1 draw with Grimsby at Blundell Park.
Bowery opened the scoring 39 minutes before George Lloyd replied with a rebounded header after Otis Khan saw his 52nd-minute penalty saved.
and then 