Spoils shared in Brunton thriller

Substitute Adebayo Azeez snatched an equaliser deep into stoppage time to enable AFC Wimbledon to grab a 4-4 draw against Carlisle.

The Dons had twice led through Sean Rigg and Matt Tubbs, but Kyle Dempsey pegged them back on each occasion with a first-half brace. Josh Gillies and Brad Potts were then on target for Carlisle, who had Gary Dicker sent off, before the visitors salvaged a point. AFC Wimbledon's fourth-minute opener came gift wrapped when defender David Symington failed to reach Mark Gillespie with a simple back pass inside the area. Rigg took full advantage, latching on to the loose ball to slide it past the stranded goalkeeper. Carlisle equalised shortly afterwards as Patrick Brough found Dempsey with a cross to the far post, and the smallest player on the pitch rose well to power a header. Another defensive disaster restored Wimbledon's lead, though. This time Danny Grainger was caught out by Tubbs on the edge of the area and Sky Bet League Two's Player of the Month for August made no mistake with the finish. However, Carlisle levelled in added time, Dempsey lashing home from six yards after Gillies' corner had been nodded on by Potts. Carlisle led for the first time after the break when Gillies cut in from the left and fired an angled shot which gave James Shea no chance. Potts then made it 4-2 with 20 minutes to go when he burst on to Dempsey's pass to blast past Shea. But Tubbs grabbed his sixth in as many games with a penalty, which was awarded after Dicker had been red carded for handling Abebayo Akinfenwa's shot. And while Carlisle tried to hold on, Azeez forced home another leveller right at the death.