However, there is little wriggle room remaining and Weston must return with three points from their trip to Charlestown next Sunday to stay in control of their own destiny.

Two penalty shouts from the Jaffas - firstly in the 14th minute, as Matt Thompson went down in the area under the challenge of Musa Kamara, and secondly in the 29th, as Robbie Turnbull opted to slide tackle Andrew Pawiak inside the box - were rightly adjudged by the referee not to merit spot kicks.

A disastrous under-hit pass across goal by Nathan Morris in the 21st minute saw Thompson waste an absolutely gilt-edged opportunity, firing a weak shot straight at the legs of returning Bears custodian Scott Carter with not one defender within coo-ee.

Ultimately the sides went to the break scoreless. There were few goal scoring opportunities in the 20 minute after the break.

That was until Anthony Wood broke away down the right flank in the 65th minute, arriving at the byline before cutting back for Kale Bradbery just inside the box. The Jaffas marksman finished confidently low to the left side of the goal to break the deadlock.

The men in yellow went within a whisker of landing a sucker punch just two minutes later, as Wood broke free once again inside the box in an excellent position but fired wide of the right post with the goal at his mercy.

Despite the setback just a short time prior, this seemed to be just the reprieve the Bears needed to finally kick into gear, with their finals hopes hanging right in the balance.

Only six further minutes elapsed when Cooper Buswell played a ball in from the right to find Aaron Niyonkuru around the penalty spot.

Though his initial header was palmed onto the inside of the right post by Kennedy, he was able to bury the follow up emphatically from a distance of a few inches to the delight of the partisan Weston faithful.

With parity restored, the Bears looked for another, but the remainder of the contest was evenly matched and few chances presented themselves for either side over the final 20 minutes of play, both sides having to settle for a point.

Next Sunday's away trip to Charlestown will see the Bears, sitting a point outside the top four, take on a side who claimed a victory over them in their last meeting and who sit just a point behind on the ladder with a game in hand.