Oxford City Stars threw away an early two-goal lead as they had to settle for a 2-2 draw at struggling Haringey in English National League South Division 1.

The result gives Haringey their first point of the season and cuts Stars' lead at the top of the table to just two points.

Having won four of their opening five matches, Stars were full of confidence going into the game and it didn't take them long to assert their authority.

After just five minutes, Darren Elliott slotted home after Joe Edwards created space deep in the Haringey zone.

Six minutes later, Oxford doubled the lead in bizarre fashion.

Alan Armour received a stick to the face and was left on the far blue line checking for bleeding.

Haringey attacked the Oxford goal, but Stars regained possession. The long clearance found Armour on his own one-on-one with the Haringey goalie – and he promptly thundered a slapshot in to the top corner before pointing his stick at his alleged attacker in celebration.

It seemed a question of how many goals Oxford would score rather than whether they would win the game.

But a number of minor penalties for both sides killed off the rest of the period.

Haringey pulled a goal back through Rick Rutherford in controversial fashion when the referee disallowed the score for high sticks – only to then reverse his decision.

This left Stars furious, and they paid the price when a buoyant home side levelled through Michael Varcoe.

Despite their best efforts in the final period, Stars could not find a winning goal and had to settle for a point.