Horsham 2, Lewes 2: Rob Collins continued his remarkable scoring form by hitting a stoppage time equaliser as Horsham fought back from two goals down at Queen Street.

Collins hit his fourth goal in as many games since having second thoughts over leaving the club and going travelling.

It completed an excellent comeback by the Hornets who had trailed 2-0 after 19 minutes having already lost top scorer Gavin Geddes with a twisted knee.

Horsham boss John Maggs said: "We got what we deserved. After going two goals down we stuck to it, dominated the second half totally and if the ball had run for us a little bit we could have come out winners.

"It was a great game of football to come out on Boxing Day and see that in the conditions.

"Am I happy with a draw? I would have been delighted if we had won it and I think we deserved it but I am happy with the fact that we have come back from two goals down.

"We showed a lot of character and stayed with it. I thought the front two worked really hard.

"Rob's flying at the moment. He is getting important goals. He has won two matches with single goal victories and now this."

A point kept Horsham in third place, a point clear of Lewes, who have played two games less.

Maggs said: "Winning is a habit. Lewes believe they can win every game and I said to the lads at half time, 'You have to knock them off their perch. We can win every game and you have got to believe you can win this game.'

"I am pleased we haven't been beaten but disappointed we haven't won."

Lewes manager Jimmy Quinn was not so impressed by proceedings.

He said: "Conditions were poor but both of these teams can forget about promotion. Not a chance. Neither would do themselves any favours in the next league up. We are just not ready.

"I didn't enjoy the game in the least, not even when we were winning. The football was awful and that was just the final blow losing a goal in stoppage time.

"If we had won it, it would have just papered over the cracks that are glaringly obvious for everyone to see. It is disappointing to have drawn after having a two-goal lead but unfortunately we are not as good a side as we were last year. We can't tuck in and defend like we used to be able to do and we paid the price."

Both managers were right in their assessment. The football was poor throughout but few of the 565 crowd would argue with the entertainment value provided by both teams in the wind and rain at Queen Street.

Sloppy passes and unforced errors combined to serve up a succession of chances in a ding-dong battle.

The deadlock was broken on nine minutes when Matt Allen swapped passes with Tony Reid on the edge of the penalty area. Allen's shot came back off the far post but Lee Newman was on hand to fire home the rebound.

Geddes departed on a stretcher six minutes later after falling awkwardly in a challenge with Lewes defender Marc Cable and things got worse for Horsham on 19 minutes when Reid seized on a loose ball and strolled through a static defence to fire past Ian Chatfield.

The home side looked shell-shocked but they rallied in the final ten minutes of the half with three half decent chances before Steve Payne pulled a goal in the fourth minute of injury time.

Gary Charman, having twice gone close himself, played the ball across the edge of the area for the onrushing Payne, who was left in acres of space to pick his spot past Tanner.

The balance of power had shifted and the home side were in control as the second half got under way. Substitute David Flemming engineered another great chance for Payne which he put wide and then Lee Butcher failed to force the ball home from close range when an equaliser looked certain.

As the minutes ticked away Horsham pushed John Kirby up front and suddenly it was Lewes who looked the more likely to score. Danny Davis was twice denied by Chatfield after getting himself in good positions and Reid shot wastefully wide after rounding Chatfield.

Two minutes into injury time Hornets got the goal they deserved. Matt Ottley lifted the ball into the penalty area, Charman outjumped the hesitant Tanner to head against the bar and the ball bounced down for Collins to head home from close range.

Horsham: Chatfield, Ottley, Bird, French, Kirby, Hardy, Butcher (Grant 77), Payne, Geddes (Flemming 15), Collins, Charman. Subs not used: Salako, Castrechino, Sebuliba.

Lewes: Tanner, Kamara, Green (Soutar 82), Kennett, Hack, Cable, Davis, Curnow, Reid, Allen (Barclay 73), Newman (Harper 59). Subs not used: Venables, Palmer.

Referee: Paul Forrester.

Attendance: 565.

Men-of-the-match: Stuart Hardy (Horsham), Tony Reid (Lewes).