IN THE heart of railway country it was appropriate that Alan Connell's rocket ensured it finished even-Stephensons at Feethams on Saturday.

Back in 1825, and before his Darlington-built Locomotion Number One had carried passengers for the very first time, George Stephenson proclaimed "One day I will astonish the world".

Well, although Connell's goalscoring exploits are unlikely to have such far-reaching consequences, the teenager's recent achievements are certainly stoking-up the Bournemouth Express.

Connell grabbed his fifth goal in six games and had the final say as Sean O'Driscoll's young troops deservedly earned a share of the spoils in an intriguing encounter in the North East.

And while Stephenson's historic locomotive is depicted on the back of an old fiver, Connell's head could adorn any notes minted by the Bank of Cherryshare in years to come, such is his potential worth to the club.

However, for all their second-half pressure, Cherries were also thankful to the first-half heroics of goalkeeper Neil Moss whose inspired display between the sticks really kept them in it.

Cherries' undisputed man of the match pulled off two top-drawer saves to keep his net intact and was unfortunate to see Graham Fenton follow up to score after he had made another magnificent stop.

And with something of a goalkeeping crisis evident at the St Mary's Stadium, Cherries fans will be hoping Saints boss Gordon Strachan does not request a video of Moss's display, otherwise his loan spell could be short lived.

In fact, if recent blunders by Premiership goalkeepers are anything to go by - including Saints' number one Paul Jones - Moss must surely be wondering what he has to do in order to secure a regular starting place.

His first offering was so stupendous it could be a leading contender for the Soccer Am feature entitled Better Than Lev Yashin.

His stunning save from a Barry Conlon header was befitting of the famous Russian custodian and drew gasps of amazement from both sets of supporters.

After Neil Maddison had hoisted a 23rd minute free-kick into the danger zone, Conlon arrived to send a thumping header powering towards goal before Moss instinctively threw himself to his right to push the ball away.

And just for good measure, the 27-year-old stopper further displayed his dexterity by diving full-length to his left to save bravely at the feet of Conlon, when, for all the world, the big targetman looked destined to score.

A combination of Moss and Steve Purches then thwarted the luckless Conlon as he tried to convert the rebound, the ball eventually being hacked away for a corner.

Sandwiched between Moss's breathtaking antics, Cherries took the lead through a familiar source, although the same cannot be said for the provider.

For reasons known only to Shaun Maher, the Irish central defender found himself well advanced in enemy territory, occupying a left-winger's position near the corner flag.

But Maher displayed all the poise of a born natural when he won possession before centring perfectly for Derek Holmes to apply a classy finish, lifting an angled drive over the top of Quakers goalkeeper Andy Collett and into the net via the underside of the crossbar.

Cherries' lead lasted just eight minutes and Moss can count himself extremely hard done by to have conceded after another wonderful block initially denied Graham Fenton from close range.

But Fenton, the former Blackburn and Aston Villa man who was signed on loan by Darlington from Blackpool last week, was on hand to prod home the equaliser after Moss had beaten away his first effort.

Cherries upped the tempo at the start of the second half and would have been awarded a penalty had referee Phil Joslin spotted Darlo defender Matthew Clarke handle Carl Fletcher's flick.

Wade Elliott embarked on a couple of enterprising forays, running into a wall of defenders on his first sortie and narrowly failing to pick out Connell from his second.

The hosts also had their chances with Mark Ford dragging a shot horribly wide of the target after 54 minutes and Conlon heading an Ian Clark cross just over the crossbar.

However, the best chance of the match undeniably fell to Marcus Browning, but sadly for Cherries, the experienced midfielder failed to convert an opportunity which can only be described as glorious.

The entire Darlo defence went missing after Browning had arrived inside the 18-yard box to meet a ball over the top from Holmes. Browning had time, space and a golden chance to fire Cherries into the lead.

He scored a perfect six for artistic impression, his control faultless. However, the judges were less generous in the technical merit department and after dallying for too long with the goal at his mercy, Browning paid the price as Collett got down to smother his resultant shot.

Browning's boob came just seconds after O'Driscoll had replaced wide boys Elliott and Danny Thomas with James Hayter and Brian Stock and reverted from a conventional 4-4-2 formation to an attack-minded 4-3-3 in search of a winner.

As it transpired, the Feethams faithful were convinced the Quakers had grabbed the clincher when Conlon slid in at the near post to bundle home from Ford's cross 17 minutes from time.

Maher was injured in the wreckage as he tried valiantly to stop Conlon and despite limping around for a few minutes, he was eventually replaced by Karl Broadhurst.

Although Cherries may have been lacking in craft, their effort and endeavour were never in doubt, epitomised when Connell spanked a venomous volley past Collett after Purches's free-kick had been inadvertently headed into his path by Darlo defender David McGurk.