Bethnal Green United were outplayed and lucky to get away with a point, despite Witham Town scoring a last-minute equaliser at Mile End Stadium on Saturday

Bethnal Green United were outplayed and lucky to get away with a point, despite Witham Town scoring a last-minute equaliser at Mile End Stadium on Saturday.

The Greens had taken the lead as early as the 10th minute thanks to Anton Stephenson's 11th goal of the season, but after surviving an 80 minute barrage, the hosts succumbed to a 92nd minute header from Witham's Robert Whitnell.

It was the East End clubs third 1-1 draw in succession and manager Justin Gardner could not hide his disappointment.

"This is making me ill. It is gutting to draw in that manner, certain individuals are cheating themselves and the team and a lot of them are not right mentally when it comes to match days," he admitted before paying homage to his opponents.

"Without a doubt they deserved the draw and they were the better team. We dominated the first 10 minutes, we scored, but from then on, they controlled the game."

It was Stephenson who found the target for the home side, his powerful drive found the corner of the net from eight yards out, after Kadir Jama played a neat one-two with the prolific front man.

Gardner had brought in Bradley Falco at centre back for his debut and the on-loan Hornchurch defender had to be at his best to keep out the dangerous Witham forward line.

"I thought Bradley was awesome, as was Anton and Kadir, but the rest of the midfield were useless," Gardner said.

"We have lost the ruthlessness we had earlier in the season and as soon as we take leads we step off the gas. We lost possession and control in midfield and I will be bringing in more midfielders to try and sort this out."

United have an excellent chance to make amends and as they prepare to take on Barkingside in the League Cup quarter-final first leg at Mile End Stadium this Saturday.

"Every game is important and to get to the final and maybe win a tournament in our first season at this level would be some achievement," Gardner said.

"I'm always confident we can get a result and I know the players we have are good enough to win any game at this level.