Byrne on the spot as Saints fight back to secure share of the spoils against Shaymen
Interim boss Gareth Dean was left with mixed emotions after his Brackley Town side secured a point after a dramatic final few minutes in their 1-1 draw with FC Halifax Town at St James Park on Wednesday night.
The Saints looked to be heading for a rare Enterprise National League defeat as the play-off chasing Shaymen went 1-0 up through a Will Harris penalty on 88 minutes, but Dean's men refused to lie down.
They hit back brilliantly to win a penalty of their two minutes into stoppage time, and Shane Byrne stepped up to coolly slot home the equaliser and secure a precious point.
The draw sees Brackley sitting in 18th place in the National League, three places and four points above the drop zone, and although Dean was pleased to see his side fight back at the death, he felt they deserved more for their performance.
"On the balance of play in terms of big chances, I would probably say we have edged that and arguably deserved to win the game," Dean told @BrackleyTownFC.
"Halifax are a tough team and they made it hard for us, but we had that never-say-die attitude again which has been apparent for the past six, seven or eight games, to concede a goal that late and come back.
"I am half disappointed, but half delighted mainly because I think the players deserved that.
"They are a tough group and they have worked their socks off, the pitch was soft and it was tough to run through, but credit to the club for getting the game on with the weather conditions we have had.
"But I felt we were well worthy of a point, although I think it probably should have been three.
"The togetherness and the unity is there for everybody to see, the willingness to run, the enthusiasm and the energy and the group is in a good place."
The stalemate was Brackley's fourth in succession, and stretches their unbeaten league run to seven matches ahead of Saturday's trip to rock-bottom Gateshead.
The north east side are on a run of nine straight defeats in all competitions, with the latest defeat coming on Tuesday night when they went down 1-0 at Boston United.