Southport and Gravesend carved out an entertaining 1-1 draw at Haig Avenue.

An incident-packed second half saw the visitors miss a penalty and both teams reduced to 10 men.

Southport had goalkeeper Steve Dickinson to thank for keeping the scoreline goalless at half-time.

Dickinson made a superb fingertip save to deny Jimmy Jackson just before the half-hour mark after his 25-yard strike looked destined for the top corner of the net.

Southport started the second half with purpose and deservedly opened the scoring after 50 minutes.

Pell's deflected strike was handled by Justin Skinner in the penalty area and after the Gravesend defender was sent off for deliberate handball, Thomson blasted the resulting spot-kick into the bottom left corner.

When Barry Jones was dismissed for a professional foul on Che Stadhart in the 77th minutes, things looked promising for the visitors.

However, Stadhart's penalty was well stopped by Dickinson.

But Gravesend continued to press and grabbed a share of the spoils with eight minutes left courtesy of Jackson's speculative 20-yard drive.

Southport: Dickinson, Clark, Barry Jones, Moore, Scott, Nolan, Pickford, Steve Jones, Howell, Thomson, Pell. Subs: Gibson, Whitehall, Winstanley, Welsby, McGuire.

Gravesend: Wilkerson, Burton, Giles, Pennock, Skinner, Bentley, White, Owen, Jackson, Stadhart, Budge. Subs: Kwashi, Strouts, Turner, Evans, Hatch.

Referee: C Harwood (Manchester)