Steve Halliwell admitted Gresford Athletic had a lucky escape as his side snatched a last-gasp leveller in the 1-1 draw with Holywell Town at Clappers Lane.

The relegation-threatened visitors were on top for most of the contest and looked on course for a deserved three points when Steve Lewis dispatched a 79th penalty.

But Gresford, who were without six first-team regulars and saw Jordan McCarter sent off in the clash, snatched a point when Simon Smith netted a fine injury-time free-kick.

The result extended the Colliers' unbeaten run to 12 games, much to the relief of Halliwell.

He said: "It did feel like we got away with it, but I think any team in this division would struggle without the players we lost to injury.

"Losing Ben Burrows in the warm-up meant we had to reshuffle the defence and bring Jordan (McCarter) in at centre half.

"We were patched up, but I thought there were some excellent performances too - like Will Roberts who made his first start for us and did really well.

"We were up against a Holywell squad that should be in the top six, so in the circumstances we were delighted to take a point and extend this great run we're on."

Town enjoyed the best of the first half and were unfortunate not to be ahead at the interval after Damian Ketley and debutant Jason Renshaw both saw solid efforts saved, before Mark Winslade's effort from a corner was scrambled clear by the home defence.

Another debutant, Wellmen keeper Tyler French, then made a smart save to tip a looping cross on to the bar to prevent the home side talking the lead.

The second half followed a familiar pattern, with Lewis' goalbound header thwarted by Ben Jones in the Gresford goal, before the hosts spurned a rare goalscoring chance when Cefn Druids loanee Lewis George fired into the side netting.

The breakthrough came with just 10 minutes remaining when McCarter handled in the Gresford box and Lewis fired home the resultant spot-kick.

Any hopes of salvaging a point looked bleak when McCarter mis-timed a challenge on 84 minutes and was dismissed for a second bookable offence.

But late drama ensued when Renshaw handled on the edge of the box and Smith produced a curling right-footed effort that flew beyond French and into the top corner.

Holywell's assistant manager Dave Sweet said: "It was hard to take because we dominated the game from start to finish and deserved more from it.

"But we should have been more clinical, considering we forced 10 corners in that first half and we should have capitalised on those.

"In terms of possession and territory I felt we were on top for 90 minutes but we haven't got our rewards.

"On another day we'd be coming away with a win and the message to the players at full time was not focus on the negatives.

"There were a lot of good elements to our play and ultimately this could be a point that keeps us up this season."