MATT Clarke felt it was ‘essential’ his Redditch United came away with something following a 1-1 draw against play-off chasing Stratford Town.
The returning Robbie Bunn came off the bench to draw the Reds level after Callum Ebanks opened the scoring inside the first 30 seconds at the Valley Stadium.
The result means Redditch sit 16th in the Southern League Premier Central table, two points clear of the relegation zone.
Reds boss Clarke received a red card in injury time after he prevented Lewis Ludford-Ison from taking a throw-in.
And Clarke stressed the need for his side to continue to pick up points with just four matches left to play.
Clarke said: “At half time, if somebody offered me a point I would have taken it, we could have been about 20-nil down.
“It was a much better performance in the second half, we showed a lot of character to come back against one of the top side’s in the division.
“I kick and head every ball for the team, I was still in my technical area and I caught him [Lewis Ludford-Ison] with my elbow, that’s just emotions, especially the position we’re in.
“It was essential that we came out of the game with something and we’ve come away with a point.
“For whatever reason, we lost our way, I had to change it and we’re happy with four points from two games, that’s a positive.
“Away from home we’ve been nothing short of terrible, the points return away from home has been really poor.
“We’ve got to go and win, everybody knows what they’ve got to do.”
Redditch made the worst possible start as Ebanks won an aerial collision with Reds goalkeeper Ollie Taylor and nodded in from close range after just 24 seconds.
And Stratford spurned a golden chance to double their lead as Charlie Williams fired straight at Taylor after the Bards caught Redditch in possession high up the pitch.
Taylor then made a fine save low down to his right to keep out Jack Storer’s effort from the edge of the penalty area.
Stratford remained on top as Dexter Dudley-Toole produced a stunning block on the line to deny Ebanks a second goal.
However, the Reds drew level on the hour mark when Bunn fired a powerful first time effort into the bottom left corner from 25-yards out.
The home side almost snatched the points when Cyrus Babaie curled a low shot inches past the post from the edge of the penalty area.
Reds boss Clarke saw red in injury time for impeding Ludford-Ison as he went to take throw-in as United held on to claim another vital point in their survival battle.
Redditch are next in action away at already-relegated Biggleswade Town on Saturday, April 12 with kick-off at 3pm at Langford Road.
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