Harrow will have mixed feelings about this result. On the one hand, it was the first point they had gained against the Magpies in five Premier Division meetings. On the other, they threw away a lead for the fourth time this season.

Edwin Stein welcomed back goalkeeper Keita Karamoko for his first appearance of the season following injury, and started with midfielder Darty Brown who had come on as a substitute at Boreham Wood.

Harrow should have taken the lead in the opening seconds. Robert Charles helped on John Lawford’s right-wing cross, but Davis Haule got a poor connection on the ball and Barnard was able to dive to save. Barnard was soon in action again, rushing from his goal to stop Lawford gathering Charles’s pass.

The predatory Yaku got in behind the Harrow defence after 18 minutes but Karamoko did enough to force him to shoot wide. Keywood then held off Richard Clarke and shot past the post, and Karamoko saved Ashe’s diving header.

Borough went in front after 26 minutes with a simple goal, Lawford’s left wing corner being met with a powerful downward header by Dean Marney. Richard Goddard then rose to win another Lawford corner, but headed over the bar. Late in the half, Charles sent Brown through on a strong run that ended with a shot over the bar; and Wayne Walters and Goddard combined to block a shot from former Earlsmead favourite Andy Rose.

For the second game running, Harrow looked sleepy at the start of the second half. Karamoko saved Nicholls’s shot at the second attempt, and a visiting header was cleared off the line. Kaywood sent a free-kick over the bar, before the visitors introduced the giant Ibe, who started to cause some problems. Karamoko needed treatment after a 68th minute scramble, and two minutes later Maidenhead were level. Ibe’s shot squeezed past Karamoko, bounced off the post and was netted by Yaku.

Neither side looked like winning the game until the dying minutes, when Karamoko produced a great save from Nicholls, and Barnard blocked Clarke’s long-range thunderbolt.

The point leaves Harrow in 15th place, with a trip to 5th place Basingstoke coming up on Saturday.