Dereham Town squandered a two-goal lead to draw with Ryman North strugglers Brentwood at Aldiss Park.

After the game Magpies boss Matt Henman was left to rue a disappointing afternoon at the office for his side.

He said: 'It's frustrating that we worked as hard as we did to get ourselves ahead but then didn't kill the game off. We gave the ball away cheaply, were too impatient when we went forward and in the end conceded two very cheap goals.

'However, it's still a point and, while we wanted three, the result was probably what we deserved. Our performance wasn't quiet up to standard today and they came here and battled really well and they were well worth a draw.

'But we know if we want to be in and around those play offs we need to kill games off when we are on top.'

Dereham started the better of the two sides and were gifted an early chance to take the lead after six minutes when Dan Dafter brought down Danny Beaumont in the penalty area. However, Aaron Kay stepped up only for his spot kick to be saved by visitors' keeper James Mariable.

Then after 14 minutes Luke Tuttle finished off Beaumont's lofted ball into the area with a neat finish from close range, giving Dereham a deserved lead after much of the early possession.

Dereham were forced to rethink their tactics after 36 minutes when Luke Hannant was taken off on a stretcher to a standing ovation after a lengthy stoppage in play.

Dereham started the second half well and forced Mariable into a string of saves early on and after 55 minutes Danny Beaumont had the ball in the net but was foiled by the linesman's flag after being adjudged offside.

The rain started to pour down in the second half making it very difficult for the Magpies to pass the ball on a testing surface, limiting the number of the clear cut opportunities produced by Henman's man.

Then with 78 minutes on the clock and after a scrappy 20 minutes which saw both sides go close to scoring, Danny Beaumont finished off Luke Tuttle's cross to extend the Magpies lead with time running out.

However, just minutes later Brentwood substitute Tony Martin capitalised on a mix up at the back for Dereham, reducing the deficit to just one goal with 10 minutes to go.

Then with 89 minutes on the clock, Martin fired through a crowded penalty area and into the back of Matt Powley's net to secure a point for his side.