Paget included new signing, flying wide man Ronan Sheehan, in the starting eleven although it was Dudley who got off to an electric start and with barely a minute gone the visitors were awarded a penalty. Breaking down the right the Dudley winger beat two men with ease before cutting into the box where he was brought down by Kimberley. The referee did not hesitate in pointing to the spot and there were no arguments from the Paget man.
It seemed Paget were about to get off to the worst possible start, as the Dudley Town forward Matty Gardner stepped up, but goalkeeper Ben Ntiri came to Paget’s rescue with a tremendous dive to his right to tip the ball around the post as it headed for the bottom corner.
After mounting pressure it came as little surprise when Dudley took the lead several minutes later. The ball was worked out to the Dudley right wing where Danks produced a fantastic whipped cross that was met by Hinesh Patel, who got in front of his man and glanced a cracking header into the top corner leaving Ntiri no chance.
Paget were working hard without creating any meaningful chances, however, a defensive error down the Paget right saw the ball run passed the Dudley defender. Mardenborough raced to keep the ball in before producing a superb cross to the back post where new signing Sheehan raced in to head the ball in despite the efforts of Dudley goalkeeper Graham.
Half Time 1-1
Paget galvanised by going in at half time all square were straight out of the blocks in the second half and took the lead. Mardenborough raced through a static Dudley defence and after cutting inside slid the ball passed Graham into the net.
As the half wore on Paget were showing great resilience as Dudley pressed for the equaliser. The game becoming more and more open. Twice Dudley won free kicks on the edge of the Paget box, blazing one just wide before striking the wall with the other.
With barely 10 minutes of the half left Dudley grabbed the equaliser, a ball into the box from Dudley substitute Horton, found Gardner, who turned and shot into the bottom right corner leaving Paget goalkeeper Ntiri no chance.
In the final minutes there were chances at both ends, although Paget will be delighted with the result in a game that could have gone either way.
Final Score 2-2