MALTON-BASED Aaron Wilford was one of Scarborough's goal heroes as they drew 2-2 at Yeovil Town on Saturday.

Boro boss Neil Thompson was forced to play on-loan centre back Wilford as an emergency striker and he did not look out of place, winning a lot of ball in the air and linking play well.

He scored the second goal after 34 minutes with a powerful header from a Steve Brodie cross after Brodie himself had headed in a David Pounder corner 12 minutes earlier.

Pounder was back in the side and getting back to his best and with Wilford looking more than useful in attack, it would appear that Thompson might have gained something out of the recent adversity.

Thompson has major off-field problems with the players being paid 13 days late and for the trip to Yeovil he was forced to pick a team that would not have been his first choice - or maybe even his third - and yet the players produced a brave performance.

Scarborough have now drawn five games and seem incapable of holding on to a lead - in this game they led by 2-0 at half time. However it would be churlish to criticise the team after their recent problems.

"If you had offered me a draw at 3pm, I would have taken it" said Thompson. "The lads did themselves a power of good with this performance, but I knew that we would be under a lot of pressure in the second half."

Yeovil were always likely to put on the pressure and Lee Johnson pulled a goal back within 30 seconds of the restart.

There then followed a siege of the Scarborough goal, with Michael McIndoe curving in a succession of wicked free kicks and corners - one of which produced the equaliser for Chris Giles 13 minutes from time.

The result leaves Scarborough out of the Nationwide Conference relegation places on goal difference only and with two home games coming this week, their immediate fate is certainly in their own hands and feet.

Yeovil Town: Sheffield, Johnson, Skiverton, Turner, White, Tonkin; O'Brien (Lindegaard 10 - Bent 83), Crittenden, McIndoe; Alford, Ramsay (Giles HT)

Scarborough: Woods, Atkinson, Faure, Ingram, Rennison, Fitzsimmons; Blunt, Pounder (Turley 84), Stoker; Wilford, Brodie (Burt 85).

Referee: M Mullarkey (Exeter)

Attendance: 2,390

Updated: 11:31 Monday, September 17, 2001