By Billy Dawson
Additional reporting: John Baron
Farsley Celtic secured what could prove to be a vital point at the death as they drew 1-1 with Peterborough Sports at the Citadel.
It’s a point which takes the Celts out of the National League North drop zone with seven games remaining – and puts their destiny firmly in their own hands.
Farsley were behind for almost 90 minutes before Mulhern’s 92nd-minute leveller.
Michael Gash had given the visitors an early lead from the spot, but the Celts’ second-half pressure eventually told in the second minute of added time when Frank Mulhern bent a stunning strike into the bottom corner.
It was certainly not the start that Farsley wanted when Peterborough’s Jordan Nicholson went down under a challenge from Andy Butler, and the referee – who bore the brunt of the home crowd’s frustrations for much of the afternoon – pointed to the penalty spot just three minutes in.
Michael Gash stepped up and duly converted by smashing the ball down the middle to put Farsley behind.
It took a quarter of an hour or so for the Celts to get a foothold in the game, but they then felt that they should have had a penalty of their own as the ball struck the arm of Isaiah Bazeley in the penalty area, but their appeals were waved away.
The closest Farsley came in the first half was when Lewis Butroid’s free kick from the edge of the area looked to be heading for the top corner before a Peterborough header sent it narrowly wide.
Peterborough Sports came out in the second half looking to frustrate their hosts in their quest for a leveller, and it became a bitty, stop-start contest not helped by some odd refereeing decisions.
However, boss Russ Wilcox threw caution to the wind as he looked to get his side back in the game, changing shape and throwing bodies forward.
Man-of-the-match Frank Mulhern had two low, driven strikes that goalkeeper Peter Cook was equal to, making sharp saves low down, before Harry Jessop had an opening after a goalmouth scramble, but could only fire wide.
By the time added time arrived, Mulhern, Theo Williams, Harry Jessop, Dave Syers and Tom Allan had all been pushed high up the pitch, and they would all be involved in some way as the equaliser arrived.
Jessop recycled possession by nodding it back towards the box, where Williams and Syers both did enough to keep the ball alive.
Tom Allan was then able to nip in ahead of a Peterborough defender and divert the ball towards the right edge of the box, where Mulhern fired a stunning, first-time, swerving effort with the outside of his boot into the bottom corner.
Mulhern is a well known scorer of spectacular goals and this outside of the boot curler was quite simply sublime.
Both defences would suffer late scares deeper into added time without a real opening being fashioned, with Mulhern’s late show ensuring a deserved share of the spoils.
Match reaction
Boss Russ Wilcox said the point at the end of a frustrating afternoon could be ‘massive’ come the end of the season.
Line ups
Farsley Celtic: Dearnley, Scales, Butroid, Devine (Jessop 82), Butler, Clayton (Turner 59), Allan, Atkinson, Ubaezuonu (Syers 59), Mulhern, Williams. Subs not used: Parkin, Morgan (GK).
Peterborough Sports: Crook, Bazeley, Fryatt (sub Sani, 33 mins), R. Jones, Fox, Alban-Jones, Kennedy, Jarvis (sub McCamon, 82 mins), Gyamfi (sub Jordan Crawford, 64 mins), Gash, Nicholson. Unused sub: Lawlor.
Attendance: 477
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