The home team gained a foothold in the tie via Joel Manning’s effort a quarter of an hour in, before Prudhoe’s Matt Law responded at the hour mark to level the match.

The YC came into the game hoping to bounce back from a penalty shootout loss to Washington in midweek. On the other hand, Newcastle University also looked for a turnaround after exiting the Northumberland Senior Cup at the hands of Morpeth Town.

Within three minutes, Prudhoe nearly snatched the lead. Michael Wright unleashed Law down the right flank and in on goal, however a heavy first touch allowed University keeper Grant to thwart the chance.

The Royals then grew into the game and assumed control of the tie in the 16th minute. The home team got a flick on in the box from Chasauka’s dangerous long throw. From there, Manning latched onto the ball and expertly finished into the bottom right corner.

A few minutes later, the YC almost struck back. Collins Unuareokpa combined well with Billy Foster, who then laid it out to Law. Luckily for the University, Wright narrowly failed to get the final touch to redirect the winger’s flash across the box.

At the 40 minute mark, Prudhoe had another chance to get level, however the Royals defended valiantly to block a trio of efforts from the YC’s attack.

After a quiet opening to the second half, the away side got back on level terms in the 60th minute. Lucca Taylor’s powerful header from Freddie Marr’s freekick forced a superb reflex stop from Grant, with Law being in the right place at the right time to convert on the follow up.

At 72 minutes the game shifted once again as Marr collected his second yellow card of the game, reducing the YC to 10 men.

In the 86th minute, the University almost regained the lead after Alexander Humble’s strike inside the box was blocked bravely by Jordan Plunkett.

Prudhoe came back with a chance of their own just before the end of normal time. Sam Davison threaded the ball out to Ryan Ndiweni, whose low rattled effort brought Grant into action with a fingertip save.

The draw sees the YC extend their unbeaten run in the league to eight matches.

Next up for Prudhoe is a local derby against play-off rivals Ryton & Crawcrook Albion on Boxing Day at the earlier kick off time of 10:30 am.