Oxhey Jets’ relegation worries refused to let up on Saturday as a late penalty denied them all three points against Holmer Green.

With Holmer on a strong run of form and Jets without a number of players, the task was always likely to be a tough one for the home side.

But they made a flying start to throw the form book out the window and were ahead from their first attack of the game.

Typically it was Chris Blunden who provided the opening goal as his fierce drive had too much power on it for the Holmer keeper to hold and found the net.

Jets dug in from then on and battled gamely as they looked to hold onto a valuable three points to aid their survival bid.

They were denied the points with just 90 seconds left on the clock when Brad Thompson was adjudged to have fouled a Holmer forward in the box.

To add insult to injury, Thompson was sent off after being shown a yellow card for the foul and a second for dissent moments later.

The hosts scored from 12 yards to deny Jets a win and leave them second bottom and in the South Midlands Premier Division relegation zone going into tomorrow’s home game with Biggleswade United.

The St Mary’s Cup did little to ease the pain of the weekend on Tuesday evening as Jets crashed out at the semi-final stage against Leverstock Green.

A close first half ended with Green in the lead after Shane Wood headed in Casey Linsell’s floated cross.

Green put the finishing touches on the win early in the second period when Reece Cameron scored from 12 yards.

Green can now prepare for a final which will serve up a local derby against either Tring Athletic or Berkhamsted.

A piece of club history had been made on Saturday when Scott Burge became the first player born in the 21st Century to score a first-team goal for Green and secure a 2-2 draw at home to London Colney.

After both sides had seen goals disallowed, the hosts took the lead just before half-time when Linsell fired home a spectacular opener from 30 yards.

Kambo Smith and Anton Johnson put Colney in command after the break, but Leverstock were to level seven minutes from time thanks to Under-18’s top scorer Burge’s first senior goal for the club.

For Tring, two league clashes in the space of a few days produced a return of two points as they played out draws against champions Welwyn Garden City and Stotfold.

Saturday’s trip to Welwyn ended in a 1-1 draw as Tring came close to ending their hosts’ unbeaten home record.

Title-winning City looked off the pace and Tring took advantage to go ahead thanks to Sam Jolliffe’s penalty, The strike looked to be enough to give Athletic all three points, but 10 minutes from time Ashley Kersey got up well to head in a leveller.

Tuesday’s meeting with Stotfold also ended with a hard-earned point for Tring as they played out a 0-0 draw, despite playing much of the second half with 10 men.

At the time of going to press Athletic were preparing to take on Colney Heath last night.

They follow that game with a clash against Edgware Town tomorrow.

Matt Bateman was the undoubted star for Berkhamsted as he returned to the side with a hat-trick to down Biggleswade FC 4-2.

Alex Campana got the first goal for the Comrades with nine minutes played before Bateman took centre-stage.

His first arrived after 17 minutes when he latched on to Dan Jones’ through ball and finished smartly.

Bateman then made it 3-0 just before the interval as he reacted well to profit from a rebound.

It didn’t take long in the second half for the Berko man to complete his treble, racing beyond a despairing Biggleswade defence and calmly converting.

With a 4-0 lead to their name, Berko unsurprisingly took their foot off the gas and saw their advantage reduced to two before the close.

The result leaves them second in the table ahead of a meeting with London Colney tomorrow.