The Bucks made a resolute return to Step 2 with a hard-fought 1-1 draw at promotion hopefuls King’s Lynn Town.

The Linnets made a fast start and had the ball in the net after four minutes, although it was quickly chalked off for a clear offside. And the Bucks then survived another early scare moments later when Ross Crane blazed over from eight yards out.

In the 14th minute, Matty Stenson had  the ball in the net for the Bucks, but another offside flag saw the score remain goalless. The Linnets were dominant though, with Nyahwema in particular causing the Bucks trouble. The lively attacker nearly found the opener in the 17th minute when he fired in a right-footed effort that dipped over the stretching Alfie Brooks before cannoning back off the face of the crossbar.

And having weathered the Linnets’ early pressure, it was the Bucks who opened the scoring in the 35th minute. Charlie Williams jinked his way into the box before being clipped from behind, and Stenson stepped up to confidently to strike his penalty past Louis Chadwick in the King’s Lynn goal.

On the stroke of halftime, Kevin Wilkin’s men nearly made it two. Remi Walker found Stenson with a delicious pass, but this time the Bucks’ dangerman was denied by a good save from Chadwick. 1-0 to the Bucks at the break.

After the interval, the Linnets continued to dominate the ball, but the Bucks were standing up to their much-fancied hosts. But in the 60th minute, Town conjured a goal out of nothing, when Crane won back possession and slipped in Michael Gyasi, who coolly slotted home through Brooks’ legs.

The goal led to a shift in the momentum, with the Linnets full of confidence once more. Gyasi really should have made it 2-1 in the 69th minute, but he hit his shot wide when clean through on goal. And the Bucks managed to see out the tricky period of pressure with the scores still locked at 1-1.

Both sides were pushing and probing, but it was the Linnets who went closest to finding a winner. Reece Hall-Johnson found in space on the right of the box and rifle a shot towards goal, but Brooks made a fantastic fingertip save to turn it around the post. Neither side could find a second goal though, and the game finished 1-1.

The Bucks rode their luck at times, but Wilkin’s men worked hard and turned in a resolute display that earned them a good point on the road to kick off the season.