Hemel Hempstead Town were held to a 1-1 draw by Cambridge City on Tuesday as their lead at the top of the Calor League Southern Premier Division was cut to six points.
A draw was a fair result at Vauxhall Road as both teams battled hard throughout, with Lewis Toomey cancelling out Adam Marriott’s opener for Cambridge.
Meanwhile, second-placed Chesham United won 3-1 at Burnham to gain two points on Dean Brennan’s Tudors.
Hemel went into the game as strong favourites, but the Tudors found it hard to break down a resolute Cambridge defence in the opening stages.
Chances were proving hard to come by, but Hemel came close to opening the scoring when skipper Jordan Parkes saw his fierce strike clip the post.
The Tudors upped the ante as half-time approached, but it was Cambridge who snatched the lead before the interval when Marriott slotted home from the penalty spot after being brought down by Hemel keeper Laurie Walker.
Despite the set-back, the hosts came out strongly after the break and got their reward when Ben Mackey’s shot was deflected into the path of Toomey who slotted home.
Danny Talbot saw a deflected free-kick shave the bar and Marriott and Josh Dawkin both fired wide as both teams searched for the winner.
Hemel sub Charlie Mpi shot over from a tight angle and Dawkin shot wide of an open net at the other end, but with no further goals the game ended all square.