Saints led 1-0 at the interval thanks to ex-Duck Gary Cobb. On 36 minutes Matt Hayward fouled Blackman on the edge of the box and Cobb curled the free kick into the top corner of the net giving Phillips no chance.
Howells saved a superb Matt Carmichael volley a minute into the second half and this pattern was to continue in a 45 minutes which Howells foiled United single handed. Man of the match Kieran Gallagher raided the right flank at will, and from numerous crosses Carmichael and Davies (twice) were extremely unlucky.
But in a dramatic last four minutes the game turned. Howells tipped over a Gallagher cross and from the corner Mark Newson passes to Ricky Sullivan who struck through a crowd of legs to make it 1-1.
A minute later substitute Stacy Joseph got in the box and his shot struck a post, flew across the line and Gallagher hit home from an acute angle to complete a great late fightback.