JOHN Clough landed a drop goal two minutes from time to earn Oxford a share of the spoils in a 14-14 draw against Gateshead Thunder in Kingstone Press Championship One at Filtrona Park on Sunday.

Clough’s kick came just minutes after a drop goal from Ben Hardcastle appeared to have given the hosts their first victory in nine matches.

A tense encounter saw the lead changing hands several times as the two sides traded blows.

Tries from Oxford’s Jonny Leather and Oli Johnson were cancelled out by efforts from Chris Parker and Omaru Caro either side of half-time.

The away side struck first on nine minutes, when Leather intercepted a Gateshead penalty and ran the length of the field to open the scoring. He pulled a hamstring in process and was forced to leave the field.

His replacement, Clough, added the extras to put Oxford 6-0 up, and the visitors went close to extending their lead after some good play, with Johnson beating two defenders on the break before being stopped in his tracks by a desperate tackle.

A few minutes later, Gateshead were back in the contest after Parker found a gap to go over, with Hardcastle’s conversion levelling the scores.

And Oxford could count themselves lucky to still be level at the interval after Gateshead had two tries disallowed in the latter stages of the half, for a double movement and a forward pass respectively.

The visitors regained the lead after 45 minutes with a kick from Clough after the referee spotted a ball-strip on the Oxford player and awarded them a penalty.

And they extended their lead on 54 minutes, when Johnson latched onto an excellent kick from captain Alex Thompson to go over in the corner and make it 12-6.

Clough was unable to convert and his miss proved costly as the hosts again pulled themselves level three minutes later.

Caro picked the ball up from a Gateshead scrum and powered his way over the line, with Hardcastle adding the extras.

The home side took the lead for the first time on 65 minutes as Hardcastle slotted over a drop goal to give them a 13-12 advantage.

Tommy Connick levelled once again for Oxford with a drop goal in front of the posts, but Hardcastle struck back on 75 minutes with yet another drop goal from the last phase of the set, giving the hosts a single-point lead with only five minutes remaining.

There were just two minutes left on the clock when Clough sent over a drop goal of his own to salvage a draw and send Oxford home happy.

Gateshead: L Hardcastle, Johnson, Blades, Haynes, Caro, Parker, B Hardcastle, Welton, Stamp, Fewlass, Heil, Ollott, Hough. Subs: Cockburn, Brown, Stoker, Krebs Oxford: Leather, Johnson, Halliwell, Morris, S Robinson, Connick, B Robinson, Clough, Hadden, Calladine, Baird, Thompson, Roden. Subs: Hoggins, Clarke, Crabtree, Osborn.