Ware maintained their good league record against Berkhamsted by coming back from a goal down and a poor first half performance to take a point with Sam Mayuma’s late goal. They fought hard in the second half and by the end of the game Berkhamsted’s flowing football had turned towards a more robust game, picking up a couple of cautions, as they fought to keep Ware at bay.

Paul Halsey said after the game that his team showed too much respect to their opponents before the break. Maybe but respect is earned and Berkhamsted did everything possible to impress the home side. They were fast, skilful and, as the half progressed, showed why they are well placed for a quick return to the premier division by outplaying their opponents.

That they only had a one goal lead by half time was surprising but perhaps due to the performance of Ware’s defence. If Ware didn’t get a shot on goal until close to the end of the half, Berkhamsted did hardly any better.

Halsey set out with three at the back and five in midfield, though at times it might as well have been the other way round. Either way Fred Burbidge didn’t have much out of the ordinary to deal with as Berkhamsted failed to get very close to his goal despite their quick and accurate passing game.

Starting a game with the intention of letting the opposition come at you could well explain why Ware were so rarely able to endanger the Berkhamsted goal. All there was in the first half hour was Max Granville’s well-judged through ball which was inches away from giving Jon Clements a clear shot on goal.

In the end Berkhamsted got the goal their play promised when Jonathan Lacey converted a penalty low to the right of Burbidge who almost got a hand to it. From a distance it seemed a soft penalty to have conceded when Charlie Barker and Gucci Soulya-Osekanongo appeared to have collided before Barker went to ground but there was little complaint from Ware players much nearer the incident.

Blues eventually got in a shot on target but at the break there was a sense of a worse deficit having been avoided and more of the same to come. It didn’t work out like that and Ware played with more confidence in the second half.

There is plenty of talent in the Ware side and we started to see some of it in action but that in itself wasn’t enough because Ware never matched Berkhamsted’s ability to open up play with first time passes. Instead, we saw effort and belief that they could get back into the match.

No one was having a bad game but Gabriel Chapps, so often brought on from the bench when a change and a goal is needed up front, had his first league start since early October. It made a difference. Freed from the requirement to just come on and score a goal he looked a much more rounded player until he overplayed his hand to pick up a yellow card.

That may have contributed to his withdrawal from the contest with twenty minutes to go. His replacement was Mayuma, the man destined to snatch the equaliser but it was another substitute who got in on the act as well. Johnny Allotey came on with just four minutes of normal time left and within a minute was on the end of Joe Dearman’s pass into the penalty area. He drew four defenders to himself before laying the ball back to Max Granville. His shot was parried by Joshua Rowley but only as far as Mayuma who scored from close range.

It was the climax to what, for Ware fans at least, was a thrilling second half though not perhaps those supporting the opposition. There might have been no chance for a climax if Berkhamsted had scored a second and they nearly did early in the second half when Burbidge saved from a well-placed Mathew Bateman.

The attendance of 211 was less than might have been expected with seemingly few in the crowd from Berkhamsted. Perhaps the importance of the fixture to a team needing every point for promotion was outweighed by the distance between west and east of the county.

Berkhamsted do have a surfeit of home games left and will not be lacking support at those. They’ll need if they want to overhaul Real Bedford after their last four games have produced just one win. For Ware, after a very poor January, they can face the new month with confidence.

Ware: Fred Burtbidge, Stef Georgiou (Johnny Allotey 86mins), Joe Dearman, Chukuma Okotcha, Jay Rolfe, Mackye Townsend-West, Max Granville, Sami Moutawafiq, Jon Clements, Gucci Soulya-Osekanongo, Gabriel Chapps (Sam Mayuma 70mins). Unused subs: Tom Kay, David Sota, George Ironton.