Woking earned a vital point at local rivals Aldershot Town after the two sides played out a thrilling 2-2 draw in the National League.

The visitors took control of the contest early on and had a golden opportunity to take the lead after 14 minutes.

With the ball falling kindly to Inih Effiong inside the box, he was fouled by a clumsy challenge from Christian Maghoma, who made no contact with the ball and gave referee Wayne Cartmel no option but to point to the spot.

Harry Beautyman was given the responsibility from 12 yards, and he made no mistake with his penalty finding the middle of the net.

The Shots got back on level terms 14 minutes later. Ryan Jones carried the ball forwards before his low cross bounced nicely for Tyler Frost to strike from just inside the box. He thumped the ball into the roof of the net to level the score.

Woking spurned a golden chance just minutes later when the ball seemed to bounce around the box for ages before Beautyman’s shot was cleared, with the Aldershot defence stretched.

Then it was the Shots’ turn to throw a punch, when another spectacular effort, this time from Jack Barham, smashed into Will Jaaskelainen’s right-hand post and bounced away.

Woking had lift off once again just five minutes into the second half when Effiong caused problems for the hosts’ defence, getting a slice of luck with a ricochet which fell nicely into the path of Frank Vincent.

The Dagenham loanee’s strike caught Shots keeper Marcus Dewhurst off guard and nestled into the back of the net.

However, the game turned in the favour of Aldershot just after the hour mark when Josh Barrett was brought onto the pitch.

It took him just six minutes to make his mark after a wave of pressure from the hosts resulted in a free kick nicely positioned towards the centre of the goal, just outside the penalty area.

Barrett bent the ball around the wall and into the top corner, giving Jaaskelainen no chance and setting off on a knee slide in front of the East Bank.

Jones was linking up nicely with Barrett down the wing and when he managed to find time and space just inside the box, his curler on his weaker right foot just flew past the post.

Barrett nearly caught Jaaskelainen out with an excellent chip with 83 minutes gone, but the Finn managed to push the ball behind for a corner.

He was peppered with two shots in succession from Barrett and Frost, reacting brilliantly to push the ball away from danger.

Aldershot weren’t done in their quest for a winner, with Dejan Tetek composing himself and firing a strike against the upright, just millimetres away from the top corner, with two minutes of normal time left.

Hearts were in mouths in the away end when Cian Harries was penalised for handball and Barrett had a free kick in a similar position to his first after two of the five minutes of injury time had been played.

This time he was unable to test Jaaskelainen, with the ball sailing over the bar.

By William Bewsey