Heaton AFC 2–2 Acton United: Duranti rescues a point

Heaton AFC and Acton United drew 2-2 on Monday 17 August, a result that did no favours to either side but felt worse for one of them. Heaton, third and in good form, led after 37 seconds. Acton, 17th and in dreadful form, were leading by the 28th minute. The point had to be earned by Donato Duranti, twice, and it almost was not earned at all.

Duranti's opener was a header, laid on by Cyril Basildon, the sort of goal that should dim the lights on a contest before the adverts. Instead it woke Acton up. Cristian Cellini equalised in the 21st minute with a goal that owed more to persistence than invention, and seven minutes later Theodore Brightwell glanced in Eldon Burdett's corner to make it 1-2. A side who had forgotten how to score suddenly remembered in front of the third-placed side. The reversal had a quiet logic to it, if you enjoy that sort of thing.

The decisive moment came in the 44th minute. Duranti's second, a calm finish from open play, levelled the score on the stroke of half-time. It stopped the rot, but it did not hide the rot. Acton had been the better side, technically and temperamentally, and they knew it. In fairness to them, they had every right to know it. Brightwell's output from set pieces has been reliable for weeks, and Cellini's goal was his third since late July. In an individual comparison, the away side's front two were the best players on the pitch, and neither wears a home shirt.

The number says 2-2. The breakdown says Heaton spent most of the opening 44 minutes being second-best in their own stadium. Tomorrow brings Matchday 24, which is the mercy of this league and the cruelty of it. There is no time to sit on a point or sulk about a goal conceded inside a minute. Both sides will be back out before the recollection has time to settle. That is probably for the best. Duranti cannot score twice every day, and Acton cannot expect a reprieve to keep following them around.