Match report courtesy of thesentinel.co.uk
KIDSGROVE Athletic were held to a 1-1 draw at home by eight-man Scarborough Athletic in a fiery season opener.
In a match marred by controversy, Grove came from behind thanks to Nick Ward's second-half equaliser, after Andrew Milne had given the visitors a first-half lead.
The game turned ugly in the second half when Scarborough's Ben Middleton, Lewis Clarkson and Steven Ridley were all dismissed, as referee Brian McGill struggled to keep a lid on proceedings.
Despite their eventual three-man advantage, Grove were unable to turn their late pressure into a winning goal, and had to settle for a share of the spoils.
Manager Ant Buckle was disappointed with his side's failure to convert their chances into a first win of the Evo-Stik Division One South season.
He said: "When they had the sendings-off, the three points were certainly there for the taking.
"We're disappointed not to finish it off after their discipline went and we had a lot more of the ball.
"To be fair to our lads, we got at them in the second half, won a lot of second balls and it caused them to get frustrated.
"They're a good side, but we got to them today and really should have come away with a win."
The visitors, who reformed in 2007, following the demise of Scarborough FC started brightly with ex-Birmingham City star Bryan Hughes pulling the strings in the centre of midfield.
He rolled back the years in the second minute with a delightful defence-splitting pass which set Tyler Collishaw free, but he skewed his effort wide from the edge of the area.
The visitors continued to edge a tight first half and they were rewarded with the opener after 20 minutes.
Former Leeds United academy product Andrew Milne reacted quickest as Grove failed to deal with a floated Ridley free-kick, as he tapped home from close range.
The first controversial incident occurred in the 34th minute following a two-footed tackle over the ball from Ridley on Grove's Craig Dove. However, referee McGill was lenient and produced only a yellow card.
Kidsgrove equalised against the run of play in the 51st minute, as Ward, who had been booked moments earlier for diving, poked the ball home after Lee McAnulty saw his shot blocked by a defender.
The visitors' first sending-off came just after the hour mark, when substitute Ben Middleton received his marching orders for bringing down Wes Wilkinson when he was through on goal.
In the 69th minute Ridley received a second yellow card as he tripped the tricky Wilkinson on the right wing.
Kidsgrove introduced former Port Vale winger Wayne Corden as they chased a winner against the nine men who were stubborn in defence.
It was Corden's corner that provided Matt Haddrell with a free header 10 minutes from time, but he headed over the bar at the back post.
Kidsgrove's best chance and last one of the game came with five minutes to go as Lee McAnulty's flicked header produced a brilliant save out of White who tipped the ball over the bar.
Lewis Clarkson lashed out at Wayne Johnson in the final minute of the 90 as Scarborough were reduced to a staggering eight men.
Kidsgrove pushed for the winner, but could not create any clear-cut opportunities in six minutes of added time, as the away side celebrated an unlikely point.
Buckle insisted that the referee did not have a shocker of an afternoon, despite ugly scenes at the full-time whistle where the vociferous and clearly unhappy travelling support rushed towards to tunnel area to hurl abuse at all three officials.
"I thought he got some of the calls right, of course he did make one or two mistakes including the incident where we should have had a penalty on the first sending off.
"So there was some bad ones for both sides in fairness."