HINCKLEY UNITED 0-0 YORK CITY

FA Trophy First Round

Attendance: 506

By Andy Gibbs at THE GREENE KING STADIUM

ANOTHER resilient defensive performance saw The Knitters register their third successive clean sheet against in form York City.

It reflected well on United’s re-shuffled back-line - Lee Collins came back into central defence with Connor Franklin switching to left back - that they became the first side to prevent York from scoring in 13 games as City looked to create a club record of nine successive wins.

It was a match that never really lived up to its pre-match billing. It was a tight midfield battle for much of the game with little to choose between the sides and chances were at a premium throughout. United introduced new loan signing from Rushden Sam Smith and he saw an early effort blocked at the near post with Collins heading the resulting corner over, but the best chances of the first half fell to York’s Michael Gash. Ten minutes in, he glanced Andy Farrell’s left wing cross wide from close range when he really should have hit the target and later in the half, Gash again headed off target, this time the corss coming from Adam Smith on the right flank.

Time and again York’s strikers were frustrated by the offside flag as they tried and failed to get in behind the well-drilled home defence and whilst United passed the ball well in patches, they failed to get enough balls into the danger zone to trouble the City defence and a stalemate ensued.

The second half continued in much the same vein as the sides largely cancelled each other out. Gash had a chance when he ran well from halfway, beating a couple of players before driving his 25 yard shot wide before Hinckley wasted a free kick in a good position when Andy Gooding was fouled 20 yards from goal but the former Coventry man curled a tame effort wide.

The game seemed destined to end goalless, though the best chances of the game came in the closing ten minutes. Chris MacKenzie became the first keeper to make a save when he sprung to his left to clutch David McGurk’s goalbound header before the best chance of the game fell to Andy Hall.

The midfielder found himself through in the inside right channel but inexplicably chose to pass when he surely should have shot at goal himself and the chance was gone.

York almost stole a win with the last kick of the game as MacKenzie had to scramble across his line to keep out a long range free-kick that threatened to creep in at the far post but a draw was a fair outcome to the game.

HINCKLEY UNITED: MacKenzie, Cartwright, Franklin, Lavery, Lister, Collins, Hall, Gooding, Smith, West (Dillon, 81), Taylor

Subs not used: Mace, Hamilton, Young, Newton