A 95th-minute equaliser denied Forest Green a win over promotion rivals Northampton Town on Saturday.

Mitch Pinnock scored with virtually the last kick to earn a 1-1 draw for the home side.

Matty Stevens’ header was deemed to have crossed the line 20 minutes from time before Pinnock emphatically slammed in an equaliser deep into stoppage-time.

Northampton made the better start and were inches away from a fourth-minute lead when Pinnock’s curling shot clipped the inside of the post and bounced away.

Paul Lewis glanced a header wide while Forest Green’s best chance of the first half fell to Jamille Matt – but he was excellently denied by Liam Roberts.

Rovers were on the front foot after half-time and they were so close to breaking the deadlock when Matt’s header hit the base of the post.

The goal that did eventually give the visitors the lead came with a huge slice of controversy with Stevens deeming to have smuggled Nicky Cadden’s corner over the line despite Northampton’s furious protests.

That looked to be the goal that made all the difference until the fifth minute of added time when Pinnock dramatically fired a sweet shot into the bottom corner for a share of the spoils.

Despite conceding so late, Rovers stretched their unbeaten run to 13 league games – a club record in the EFL – and are still seven points clear of Tranmere at the top of the table.

Forest Green boss Rob Edwards said: “It’s a great point away from home. Obviously we’re disappointed with the manner of it and how late they scored.

“It’s a tough one to take but this is a tough place to come so we have to accept it and learn from it because there were areas where we could have been better.

“I think it was a good game. They started off really well which is what you would expect with them being at home.

“It settled down after 10 or 15 minutes and we grew into the game and started to get a bit more control.

“We were the better team in the second half, we played at a better tempo and after we got the goal, we looked a threat on the counter.

“The big thing that I will reflect on is that we should have gone 2-0 up because we had lots of good moments on the counter-attack.

“But some of the defending was excellent and there are loads of positives for us.”

Rovers host Mansfield Town on Tuesday and Carlisle United on Saturday.