Kings Langley manager Dean Barker was pleased with a point after an entertaining 2-2 draw at Peterborough Sports last night.

Having stunned promotion favourites Nuneaton Borough by winning 3-0 in their opening Southern League Premier Central game of the season on Saturday, it was Kings’ turn to be shocked when they fell behind inside the first minute.

The visitors recovered well to lead 2-1 at the break, but were pegged back in the second half to leave Barker looking to the positives as his side bid to continue their unbeaten start to the campaign at Stratford Town on Saturday.

“All in all it was a very good point away from home,” the Kings boss said. “It was a horrendous start but we bounced back well to go in at half-time ahead.

“In the second half we had opportunities to finish the game, which we never took, then we conceded a sloppy equaliser.

“Sometimes in football when you can’t win you make sure you don’t lose and we did that against a very good side.”

Barker named an unchanged line-up but, seemingly distracted by a prone Mitchell Weiss in the opposition half, the central defence allowed Mark Jones to get goal-side and he finished with aplomb past Melvin Minter to put Peterborough inside after just 50 seconds.

For the next few minutes Kings were under the cosh as the home side produced some rapid attacking football, but they weathered the storm without further damage and began to impose their own brand of pace and flair, with Roddy Collins hitting the post with a powerful 25-yard drive.

Matty Campbell-Mhlope and Kane Farrell were looking dangerous down the left side, with the former having a low shot held by Lewis Moat, before the Turbines conceded a disputed corner.

In a replay of Saturday’s opener at Nuneaton, Farrell swung in the kick, Weiss beat the keeper with a header and this time a defender cleared off the line. However, the ball found its way back out to Farrell, now on the edge of the box, and he executed a perfect half-volley into the top of the net to equalise.

That was nearly short lived when James Stevenson and Lewis Hilliard combined well down the right to set up Jones with a cross, but his point-blank header hit the post.

The visitors were now in the ascendancy though, and a Weiss pull back for Charlie Ruff forced a good save out of Moat, before the tenacity of Ruff saw him win possession and slip a superb through ball to Eoin McKeown, who finished past keeper and defender with what appeared to be a slow-motion strike.

Good value for their lead, Kings came out for the second half in confident fashion, but the hosts had been galvanised during the interval and both sides entered into a battle with no quarter given as they searched for the vital fourth goal of the game.

That duly arrived in the 65th minute when Dion Sembe-Ferris received the ball and drove it home with precision just inside Langley’s left-hand post.

As an absorbing encounter reached its crescendo, the Turbines looked the most likely to break the deadlock, but Minter pulled off a telling save and Jorell Johnson cleared off the line to ensure that honours were even at the final whistle.

Kings Langley: Minter; G Connolly, Johnson, Adebiyi, Farrell; Collins, Coldicott-Stevens (Alfano 75); McKeown, Ruff (Crawford 68), Campbell-Mhlope (Ward 87); Weiss. Sub not used: Collier.