For the second successive match on the road, Nelson came away with just a point knowing it really could have been all three.

The Blues had turned the match at Valley Road in their favour following a breathtaking opening to the second-half, which saw them overturn a 1-0 deficit at the break into a 2-1 lead six minutes later.

On 48 minutes, Sam Heap split the home defence with a delightful ball to send Alex Mugan scampering through, and the Nelson striker coolly slotted the ball under the advancing keeper to level the scores.

And three minutes later, a throw-in out on the left allowed Craig Redhead to provide a pin-point cross into the area, and Payne gleefully powered a header into the net to turn the game on its head and give Nelson the lead.

It was no more than Nelson deserved after a first-half in which they had made the clearer chances but found themselves a goal down. There was an element of fortune 10 minutes from the break as the ball ricocheted off defender and striker, but there was nothing fortuitous about the resulting shot from Josh Mitten 25 yards out, which sailed beyond the helpless Billy Carrington into the top left hand corner of the net.

A lack of communication between Redhead and Chris Ogunyode led to Flixton snatching an equaliser midway in the second-half.