TOM Richardson was the hero as BRIGHTLINGSEA REGENT scored two late goals to rescue a point at Merstham.

The R’s were 3-1 down with ten minutes left in the Bostik League premier division encounter – only for the striker to step off the bench, score twice and salvage a 3-3 draw.

It was a thrilling end to a dramatic contest and especially pleasing for Richardson, who has been struggling with a back injury but made his comeback as a substitute in Tuesday’s 4-0 defeat at Billericay Town.

The afternoon could barely have got off to a worse start for Brightlingsea when they found themselves two-down in 15 minutes, following early goals for the hosts’ Jake Hutchings and Alex Addai.

Regent skipper Matt Cripps halved the deficit just before the half-hour mark but Simon Cooper’s strike shortly before the break put Merstham firmly back in the driving seat at 3-1.

The R’s are made of stern stuff, though, and Richardson’s first ten minutes from time gave them hope at the Moatside Stadium.

The striker then popped up with a leveller three minutes later to spark wild celebrations and make it a very happy journey back to north Essex.

Regent are 11th in the table and this was the only premier division fixture of the day, with so many other sides in FA Cup action.

Division north high-flyers HEYBRIDGE SWIFTS were one of those sides in second qualifying round action – Jody Brown’s men drew 2-2 at Metropolitan Police, thanks to Luke Callander’s penalty and Jack Cawley’s late leveller – but WITHAM TOWN had a league game at home to Mildenhall Town.

Unfortunately for them it was the visitors who returned home with all three points, as Joseph Asensi’s 34th-minute goal gave them a 1-0 win.

Lance Akins was sent off in the closing seconds, for Witham.

MALDON AND TIPTREE were another of those sides without a fixture on Saturday.