Master marksman James Taylor returned from six weeks on the sidelines to salvage Havant & Waterlooville a 1-1 home draw against in-form Welling United at Westleigh Park.

Playing their first game under the new management of Dave Leworthy, the Hawks turned in a far sharper performance than of late but fell behind in the 52nd minute to a thunderbolt free-kick by Danny Slatter.

Taylor's equaliser came 15 minutes from time, heading in at the far post from substitute James Ford's cross.

The 29-year-old Woolston based striker, who later hit the post, has been out since early December with ankle ligament damage.

He smiled: "It was good to be back. That was the longest I've ever been injured. Mind you, they thought I'd be out for ten or 11 weeks so I'm back in nearly half the time. The ankle's not perfect yet, but it's playable."

Hawks gave a debut to centre-back Jamie Campbell, who has joined on a month's loan from Woking, but the man-of-the-match award went to frontrunner Jamie O'Rourke, who had a close-range header cleared off the line in the last minute.