FORMER hot-shot Carl Davies is now playing as a central defender, but he showed on Saturday he hasn’t lost his finesse in front of goal, writes Dave Wright.

The Bracknell Town skipper snatched a late goal to earn his side a 1-1 draw with title-chasing Flackwell Heath at Larges Lane which eases their relegation fears.

“Yes, it was nice to get the equaliser,” he said. “I thought we played very well and deserved to get a draw.”

Like he had in last Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Thame United, Davies marshalled his defence superbly after they had conceded an eighth-minute goal to Dan Burnell.

But, with time running out, manager Mark Tallentire told him to move up front and it paid instant dividends.

Davies explained: “Tally gave me the nod to have the last five minutes up top.

"I must have only been up front for about a minute when I scored. But then he told me go straight back [to defence].”

The Robins captain added: “It was a very good point for us.

“To be honest, we probably didn’t expect to get a point. Before today they [Flackwell] were top of the league and rightly so.

"They are a good, organised side, so were are all happy with the point.”

The Heathens came into the game as the Hellenic League Premier Division leaders following a run of six successive wins.

And they must have fancied their chances of extending their winning sequence when Burnell put them ahead with a cross-cum-shot that went in in off the off the post.

Two minutes later there was an anxious moment for the Robins when Dylan Kearney went down in the area, but Flackwell’s appeals for a penalty were turned down.

Joe Blount missed a good chance to increase the visitors’ lead, while, at the other end, Adam Cornell

saw his shot deflected wide.

Heathens winger Tom Collins was a whisker away from a goal just after half-time, but then Bracknell started to enjoy a good spell of possession with new signing, Lee Rushe, making his presence field felt in midfield by stemming the flow of attacks.

It was beginning to look as though their efforts would go unrewarded – but that was until Tallentire gave Davies the nod.

Jamie McClurg created the opening and, with Cornell also up there, Davies managed to get the ball past keeper Dan Weait.

There was a late heart-stopping moment for Robins when Burnell raced through for a one-on-one, but keeper Garry Aulsberry threw himself down to his left to push the ball away for a corner.

“It was a great save by Garry to prevent a certain goal,” commented Tallentire.

“We rode our luck a little bit as well, but we haven’t had any luck recently, so perhaps that is beginning to turn.”

RAY Coxhead, who was groundsman at Larges Lane from the 1970s to the early 2000, passed away last week.

“Ray was a lovely man and a top bloke,” said Darrell Freeland, a Bracknell FC life member.

“His efforts around the club were appreciated by us all.”