A young Town reserve side including several trialists was denied a victory by a last minute penalty at Chelmsford on Wednesday evening. Ronan Murray put the Blues ahead in the second half before Jamie Hand netted from the spot with the final kick of the game.
Town included Dutch winger Rawley Rozendaal, who TWTD was first to report would be joining the Blues on trial earlier this month, 18-year-old former Bolton reserves and academy left-back Matt Carlisle and midfielder/striker Alex Muñoz, who we can't find too much out about.
Rozendaal hit a low shot through to the keeper early on, but it was the home side who were having the better of the game with keeper Ian McLoughlin making a good save with his feet from Jason Hallett.
On 26 Murray struck a shot across goal which the keeper deflected for a corner, then from the corner Tom Eastman headed over when he should have hit the target.
Hallett missed an even better chance for Chelmsford soon after when he nodded wide when unmarked six yards out.
In wet, slippy conditions there had been more than a few tackles unbefitting a friendly and on 35 Ricky Holmes got his name in the book for a wild lunge which left Josh Meekings prone and Town coaches Chris Kiwomya and Bryan Klug evidently less than impressed.
Just before the break, Muñoz shot wide. Meekings failed to reappear for the second half with Josh Carson taking over.
On 47 Eastman's header from a corner was cleared before Murray could add a final touch, then Hallett missed another good opportunity, again missing the target when escaping Jack Ainsley's attentions.
The Blues went ahead on 53 when David Cawley, one of the most impressive reserves players in pre-season up to now, played through Murray, who slipped the ball past the keeper.
The Irish U19 international came close again on the hour when his shot deflected wide, seven minutes before ex-Watford man Jamie Hand came close to levelling with a chip which just looped over McLoughlin's crossbar.
Danny Bunce saw a shot well saved by McLoughlin as Chelmsford took control of the game. However, from the corner, Jack Ainsley took the ball practically the length of the pitch but chose to shoot instead of passing to the unmarked Murray and missed the target.
Holmes blazed high and wide for the home side, who were doing everything but scoring.
Town introduced new academy recruit Caolan Lavery on 75 and the striker or midfielder immediately forced a save from the Chelmsford keeper with a low shot from the left.
As the crowd started to leave, Luke Hyam lunged into a tackle on Holmes inside the area and sent the Chelmsford man to ground. The referee pointed to the spot and Hand scored with the final kick of the game.
A draw was a fair result and was perhaps harsh on Chelmsford, who had dominated the second half and probably won the first on points.
None of Town's trialists really stood out, Rozendaal showed pace and skills at times but rarely tracked back and was uninvolved for long spells, Muñoz had one or two classy touches but was largely a peripheral figure, while Carlisle showed little going forward and similarly failed to stand out.
Reserves: McLoughlin, Meekings (Carson 46), Carlisle, Hyam, Ainsley, Eastman, Griffiths (Dunbar 66), Cawley, Murray (Lavery 75), Muñoz, Rozendaal (Burke 89).