GORNAL striker Marvin Nisbett’s injury time strike saved the day for the home side and sent this FA Cup extra preliminary round tie to a replay.

In a game in which the home side created the lion’s share of the chances, it was Gornal captain Chris Waterhouse who first went close, narrowly heading over from a Matt Martin corner.

Calum Martin created a good opportunity for himself on 23 minutes before excellent work by Matt Martin down the left-hand side left Nisbett with the opening to break the deadlock from six yards a minute later.

Nisbett could have doubled the lead three minutes later but an Ashley Burd block thwarted his efforts.

The Shifnal equaliser came on the half hour when Gornal’s Dave Meese made a hash of a free header in the Shifnal penalty area, enabling the visitors to launch a direct counter attack which saw Craig Ryan race through and score a superb dipping long-range volley over James Pemberton.

In the second half Gornal started brightly with a Matt Martin effort from the edge of the box blazing inches over within a minute of the restart and Calum Martin shooting just wide on 54 minutes.

What appeared a perfectly valid Jake Morgan goal was then controversially chalked off for offside on 63 minutes as officials and players took a differing view over whether the midfielder’s surging run into the box included a pass or a knocked ball into space.

On 80 minutes, Shifnal’s giant centre half Patrick Ellis converted one of the visitors’ rare chances, heading home from a corner to give the visitors the lead.

Minutes later Tony Griffin came close to sealing the result for Shifnal on the break but his drive from ten yards was well saved by James Pemberton.

As Gornal pressed in the closing stages it seemed the game was slipping away, particularly when a Dave Meese shot was deflected and then saved well by keeper Rickilee Marston on 89 minutes.

But the home side’s perseverance paid off two minutes into injury time with almost the last kick of the game when Nisbett jinked his way into the area from the left and unleashed a shot which, via a combination of deflections and woodwork, ended up in the back of the net.

The replay is scheduled for Wednesday August 24 at Pheonix Park in Shifnal, kick off 7.45pm.

Gornal: James Pemberton; John Hill; Pete Wood; Connor Gater (Cameron Morgan, 80); Chris Waterhouse (Captain); Kristian Green; Dave Meese; Jake Morgan (Lee Wherton, 85); Marvin Nisbett; Calum Martin; Matt Martin.

Shifnal: Rickilee Marston; Adam Smith; Ashley Burd; Mike Sheridan; Patrick Ellis; George Williams (Captain); Mark Adamczyk (Rhys Adams, 69); Stuart Corns; Chris Henry (Tony Griffin, 80); Craig Ryan; Clayton Johnson (Sean Hennessey, 75).