Dereham Town left Maldon & Tiptree's Wallace Binder Stadium with an excellent point on Tuesday night following Ryan Crisp's dramatic late equaliser.

With several players unavailable, manager Matt Henman gave a number of his young players the chance to shine.

Maldon went ahead after just three minutes when Chris Regis beat Dereham keeper Will Viner with a low 25-yard drive. Full-back Vadin Costandachi was injured in the build-up and had to be replaced by Jake Anema.

However, the in-form Magpies equalised six minutes later through Rhys Logan after good work from Fraser Blake-Tracy and Crisp down the left. The visitors then had what looked like a clear penalty appeal turned down after Crisp was clattered from behind.

Maldon's Sam Newson saw his diagonal drive deflected inches wide before Dereham's Dion Frary turned and fired narrowly off target. Shortly before the interval another effort went just over as the Jammers pressed.

The home side regained the lead seconds into the second half when Joe Francis lobbed the advancing Viner following a quick break. Dereham responded well, with skipper Sam Borrer driving his side forward. Crisp and then Borrer both failed to test home keeper after good approach play.

Dereham kept pressing, with Seb Bialasik firing wide, and they were rewarded for their efforts in added time when Crisp skilfully steered home Payton Swatman's cross to make it 2-2.

It completed a good week for the Magpies after their draw, by the same scoreline, against high-flying Harlow at the weekend.

It also appears that manager Matt Henman has unearthed a gem in Costandachi despite his injury on Tuesday evening.

The Magpies manager has given plenty of grassroots players the chance to make the step up to the non-league arena since taking over from Rob Taylor in March 2008.

Costandachi became the first Moldovan to play for the club against Harlow and did enough against the Essex side to suggest he can more than keep his head above water.

Henman said of the right-back, who can also play in midfield: 'He was recommended to me by a friend of a friend who had seen him play for a Sunday team. He said he looks quality and had a good pedigree because he'd played for Moldova Under-21s. You do get a lot of that floating about – but I always investigate every single one. I'm certainly glad I did this one.

'Vadim's just got to get used to the style of football and the inconsistency of our pitches. He needs to overcome the language barrier too but he's made a promising start and he could prove to be a real find.'

Costandachi, who has four Moldova under-21 caps to his name, started Saturday's 2-2 home draw – in which Crisp hit a brace for the hosts – against a team who had won all of their last 12 league matches.

Dereham return to action on Saturday when they visit Romford before they visit King's Lynn Town Reserves on Tuesday night in the semi-finals of the Norfolk Senior Cup.