Abacus Media are the hosts and they begin the day in 11th place in the league table, with visitors Burnage Metro seven points better off in 6th place, the main difference in the records of the two teams being that the visitors haven't drawn any of their matches to date.
The early stages set with the scene for the afternoon, with both goalkeepers making good blocks, Burnage's Joey Cavanagh denying Billy Sutcliffe, and his Abacus counterpart Lee O'Neil doing likewise from Tommy Greally. Home skipper Pat McDermott had a shot clip the top of the bar, but the only blot on an outstanding display from Joey Cavanagh saw him bring down Antony Campbell as he went away from goal, allowing Dave Doran to give Abacus a 23rd minute lead from the penalty spot.
Burnage are back on level terms after 36 minutes, Mike Eastham setting up Paul Costello to score with a good low finish, but they are again indebted to the keeper to keep the scores level at the interval, Joey Cavanagh blocking Antony Campbell's header and somehow hooking the loose ball away before it crossed the line.
Burnage make the brighter start to the second half with a Paul Costello shot hitting the post, but they do go ahead on 63 minutes, Matt Gittins putting Tommy Greally away to apply the finish.
Abacus took just two minutes to respond, Billy Sutcliffe hooking home Mark Heywood's cross at the far post, and they were only denied a winner when Joey Cavanagh produced another fine save to push Antony Campbell's header on to the post, though a share of the spoils was probably a fair reflection of an entertaining game on a very cold afternoon.
