Haywards Heath Town came from behind twice to take a point leaving the visitors rueing a mad headrush leaving them with 10 men for the final 10 minutes.

On a damp Boxing Day morning the two sides at the top of the Southern Combination Premier Division locked horns with Heath needing to find a winning formula once again, trailing the Robins by some 11 points at the start of play.

Chances were at a premium in a cagey first half, scrappy moments giving way to a Josh Mundy strike from 20 yards out giving Hassocks the lead on 23 minutes. Heath were tidy in possession as the half wore on but the only effort on target the difference between the two sides at half time.

The second half followed a similar pattern, both managers making substitutions to force the game either way but it wasn’t until the final ten minutes when the game exploded into life.

Hassocks keeper Jordan Brown saw red after an altercation with a Heath player in the six yard box. From the resulting corner and a couple of recycled plays Heath found an equaliser through substitute Liam Benson who bundled the ball home on 85 minutes.

A minute later Hassocks were awarded a penalty for handball, Robins sub Charlie Pitcher saw his spot kick superbly saved by Mitch Bromage.

Pitcher then stole away from the left wing to finish nicely past Bromage in the 89th minute and seemingly a fourth successive defeat for the home side.

However, yet another substitute Kiarn Asafu-Adjaye popped up to score another equaliser and a share of the festive spoils,the crowd of 806 needing more than a few minutes to catch their breath at the end.