DROYLSDEN 0 HINCKLEY UNITED 0

Attendance:

By ANDY GIBBS at THE BUTCHER'S ARMS

HINCKLEY United picked up their first ever point at The Butcher’s Arms, and a good one it was too, given the circumstances.

The visitors changing room resembled casualty at The George Eliot on an afternoon that saw three Knitters depart prematurely with injury, it would have been a fourth, but Mark Dudley bravely soldiered on for the final few minutes, albeit as a limping passenger, when he too was injured.

Despite those setbacks, United dug in to earn their point. It was an afternoon for artisans rather than artists as Hinckley sacrificed some of their attacking potential to counter the threat posed by their hosts as Dan Dillon came in to bolster the midfield and the game plan came off.

The Knitters were dealt a blow ten minutes into the game when Adam Webster turned an ankle, damaging ligaments and was stretchered off to be replaced by Chukki Eribenne. It was a tight half with few chances, the best falling to home skipper Steve Halford who headed Liam Brownhill’s corner off target when well placed whilst at the other end, Eribenne had a sight of goal but was crowded out at the near post.

That proved to be last action for the substitute who was taken off himself at half-time with mild concussion with Matt West replacing him and as the home side dominated possession for much of the second half, West ploughed an increasingly lonely furrow up front with little support as the midfielders tucked in to deal with the threat of Droyslden.

For all their possession, the home side rarely got in behind United, Tony Gray headed wide from close range but the closest The Bloods came was from an unlikely source as Richard Lavery, in attempting to clear a low cross, smashed the ball against his own post.

Late on, after Alex Taylor limped off following a collision with home keeper Paul Phillips, Gray curled a well place free kick wide before, in time added on, Neil Cartwright was in the right place to kick Kevin Leadbetter’s shot off the line to preserve United’s second clean successive sheet away from home.

HINCKLEY UNITED: MacKenzie, Cartwright, Dudley, Lavery, Lister, Franklin, Hall, Gooding, Webster (Eribenne, 10 – West 45), Taylor (Mace) Subs not used: Collins, Hamilton