TEN-man Trafford produced a gutsy second-half performance to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw at Tadcaster and extend their unbeaten Evo-Stik North run to nine games.

After a bright opening, Trafford went close to taking the lead in the ninth minute when a Louis Corrigan free kick from the edge of the penalty area deflected inches over.

Paul Linwood then headed wide from just eight yards following a cross from the right by Declan Rydings as the visitors dominated possession, with Jack Dorney particularly prominent in midfield.

Skipper Chris Palmer and Dorney combined neatly in the 22nd minute with the former firing just over from 30 yards and Tadcaster had to wait until the half-hour mark for their first attempt on goal when Josh Greening shot straight at Grant Shenton from 25 yards.

Six minutes later Albion’s impressive midfield general Conor Sellars was unfortunate when his free kick from the edge of the penalty area struck the angle of post and bar and Sellars then blasted a low drive that was held at full length by Shenton.

Three minutes before half time the whole complexion of the game changed when Linwood was adjudged to have handled 25 yards from his own goal and was shown a red card to the disbelief of everyone.

Trafford were shocked by this decision but their plight was compounded six minutes into the second half when the official ruled Corrigan had tripped Cam Murray, and despite the vehement protests of the visitors, Sellars stepped forward to clip the resulting penalty past Shenton.

Tom Baker’s side were now faced with a mountainous task and goalkeeper Shenton produced two superb saves to thwart Lawrence Hunter and Tom Corner.

Substitutes Kingsley Williams, Mark Derbyshire and Aaron Burns were introduced to the action and they all injected extra pace, urgency and work-rate to the team.

And in the 76th minute Trafford’s valiant efforts were rewarded with the equaliser when Rydings pushed forward down the right, crossed to Derbyshire who neatly laid the ball into the path of Williams, whose drive from 15 yards crashed into the roof of the net.

Albion were rocked by this goal and pushed forward in search of the winner but once again Shenton was in brilliant form between the sticks and denied close-range efforts by Roper and Howarth.

And in the dying seconds Trafford could have snatched all three points when they broke quickly down the left but no one was on hand to convert Burns' low cross across the face of the Albion goal.

On Saturday Trafford host Ossett Town, hoping to extend their unbeaten run to 10 games and then on Tuesday night they travel to Abbey Hey in the second round of the Manchester Premier Cup.