Dial passed up the opportunity to move back to second in the Surrey Premier County Football League table after drawing 1-1 against Keens Park Rangers at Alwyns Lane today (8 Nov).

A 72nd-minute goal from substitute Danny Taylor looked to have been enough to secure the points for Steve Brown's side, until Archie Harris hit back for Rangers six minutes later for a share of the spoils.

Despite being without several key players, including captain Zac Hawker, George Frith, and Aidan Philips (pulled hamstring), Dial hit the ground running against Rangers as they sought to build upon the previous week’s 6-0 victory over Parkside in the county cup.

George Lawrence caught the eye early on when he rifled a shot wide of the post after just six minutes, and then pulled another shot wide three minutes later.

Shortly after, the visitors came close to scoring too when Kiyanu Pillay was denied by George Mead from point-blank range, before Michael Woods’ shot was blocked a minute later.

A cross-shot from Lawrence narrowly evaded the outstretched leg of Jordan Carter arriving at the back post midway through the first half.

Although some poor decision-making from Lawrence during the next attack saw him go for glory rather than pull the ball back for Michael Campbell or Aidan Doran, who were better placed to hit the target, which was replicated three minutes before the break.

Dial continued to pepper Rangers’ goal, with veteran shot-stopper Adrian Giles palming away Carter’s shot just 60 seconds after the restart.

Four minutes later, a great header from Harris hit the bar from a well-flighted corner kick, which Dial eventually managed to clear.

The introduction of Taylor provided another attacking option for the hosts as they sought to find a way past a stubborn Rangers’ defence.

And Taylor almost made a swift impact after he was noticeably pushed down in the box by Harris, but it was not enough to sway Lydia Osborne to award a penalty.

However, Taylor arguably got just-reward for his endeavours when he latched onto the end of a low cross from Carter, which looped over Giles and into the net to give Dial a 72nd-minute lead.

Not to be outdone, the visitors hit back six minutes later when Harris - playing in an advanced position - found himself through on goal, before calmly slotting the ball past Mead to level the scores.

Dial's response was almost short-shrift, when Carter’s shot was cleared off the line by Lucas Atkin. Substitute Dan Cenzano then fended off two defenders in the box, only for his blistering shot to strike the post from 14 yards with Giles well-beaten.

The late surge continued when Giles was unable to hold Jimmy Norman’s long-distance free-kick, but then pulled off a superb save to deny Charlie Marshall from 12 yards, who was first to react in the 89th-minute.

With one last throw of the dice, Taylor was just inches away from toe-poking Carter’s low cross home two-minutes into stoppage time as the ball flew across the goalmouth.

Remarkably, Rangers could have won the match in the dying seconds when Dial’s high press enabled Harris to breach the backline, only to be denied by Mead.

Speaking after the match, Brown said: “On the balance of play and how many changes we had; especially in the second half, we should have won the game comfortably.

"However, while it’s easy to look at the negatives, we didn’t lose the game. My disappointment perhaps just goes to show where we are as a club and the high standards that we expect each week, which is a credit to the squad we have,” he added.

DIAL SQUARE: Mead, Ewen (Norman), Rogers, Doran (Taylor), Marshall (c), Corner, Carter, Adag, Campbell (Cenzano), Lawrence, Abraham-Barlow. Unused subs: Rose-Davies, Vass,

MotM: Charlie Marshall