TADCASTER Albion earned a spirited and gutsy Evo-Stik Division One North point at home to Colwyn Bay after surviving for over 75 minutes with ten men after the dismissal of Jono Greening.

Brewers manager Billy Miller made three changes to the side that got back to winning ways against Silsden in the West Riding County Cup, with Chandler Hallwood, Erico Sousa and Dan Thirkell all returning to the starting line-up, and Jason Mycoe missing out through injury.

The big talking point came in the 13th minute.

Jono Greening and Mike Roddy went in hard but fair on each other on two occasions before the Tadcaster captain was shown a straight red card for catching the Bay man on his knee in their third challenge.

No Colwyn Bay players seemed unhappy with the challenge, which looked somewhat innocuous, but referee Michael Gillespie went straight to his back pocket.

Despite going down to ten men, it changed very little in terms of the contest as a whole, with both teams struggling to find any kind of rhythm.

Gillespie certainly wasn’t a favourite with the home fans as his cards were out again to book Josh Grant and Roddy for soft fouls.

The already-booked Roddy was penalised again, but the referee ignored the chants of “off, off, off”.

The closest Taddy came to scoring in the first half was when Rob Youhill smashed a shot into the side-netting from an acute angle.

The ten men of Tadcaster started the second half with greater purpose than the visitors as Erico Sousa screwed an effort wide after seeing his initial strike blocked.

The opening 90 seconds of the second half were more open than the entire first half as, at the other end, Liam Turner tested Hallwood’s handling with a fierce strike but the former Walsall stopper held the ball superbly.

Ten minutes into the half and Taddy were looking towards the referee once again – this time for a penalty for handball as Josh Barrett’s hooked effort struck Roddy on the arm, but nothing was given.

Then Conor Sellars’ fizzing free-kick across goal from just outside the penalty area on the left-hand side was deflected inches wide by defender Gareth Grant.

The first clear chance of the afternoon, however, came 20 minutes into the second half as Bay began to be more adventurous. Substitute Will Jones found himself unmarked six yards out and headed the ball towards the bottom left-hand corner but consistent centre back Barrett read it brilliantly and hooked it off the line.

Danny Andrews then went close for the men from North Wales, curling a shot narrowly wide from 25 yards.

Three minutes later, however, Andrews came even closer to breaking the deadlock, cutting inside and drilling a shot which forced Hallwood to tip the ball onto the crossbar. Full back Luke Denson continued to try his luck as Taddy’s legs began to tire, but the Bay defender couldn’t find the target, driving the ball viciously across goal.

Albion had two last-gasp chances to take all three points, with a free-kick and corner both taken by Josh Greening but Colwyn goalkeeper Karl Wills beat both clear.

The work-rate by all 16 Brewers players was tremendous: Carl Stewart ran tirelessly up front and Barrett defended admirably, along with Josh Grant, Tom Allan and Jordan Armstrong, who was an outlet down the right wing.

Sellars, who dropped deeper following the red card, ran his socks off for the 94 minutes, never giving Bay a moment’s peace.

Youhill and Sousa provided the width going forward and the cover going backwards, and Thirkell cleared Albion’s lines on a number of occasions.

Tadcaster Albion: Hallwood, Armstrong, Grant, Allan, Barrett, Thirkell, Youhill (Baker 76), Jono Greening (c), Sousa (Josh Greening 71), Stewart (Corner 86), Sellars Unused Substitutes: Shepherd, Ibrahimi.

Colwyn Bay: Wills, Denson, Corrigan, Roddy (Jones 56), Regan, Grant, Turner (Gaghan 72), Armstrong (c), Bakkor, Booth, Andrews. Unused substitutes: Wolland, Pino, Collins.