Goalless stalemate but no bore draw

The score line suggests that this game may have been a boring encounter but this was anything but the truth. Both sides went at it from the start with nothing given in a match that was not for the faint hearted.

Scott Coates had the first effort on goal when from one of his trademark free kicks he rattled the Wideopen crossbar with new signing for Wideopen Graeme Swinton in goal totally beaten. At the other end winger Chris Sword was showing fantastic pace down the right wing and was a constant threat.

With Captain Gavin Cox unavailable Hexham were fortunate to have Graeme Turner back after a long term back injury and he just picked up as if he had never been away. Alongside Graeme were Tom Hacking and Michael Robson who both had to be at the top of their game and considering the average age of the back line was only eighteen this was a great performance against one of the top sides in the division.

But the man behind the defence took most of the plaudits, Dave Anderson pulled of four or five top saves during the match to earn him the man of the match award. One save was exceptional as he got a strong hand to a vicious drive just before the break to turn over for a corner.

The first half had been pretty even with maybe the visitors just shading the possession but on chances it was even. The second half was similar to the first but this time Hexham had the better chances. Neil Tiffin will be upset he did not hit the target from a corner and Darren Dobson was unlucky not to get on to the end of a Thomas North cross.

Debutant Andrew Crawford did very well in the middle of the park and was unruffled by the strong challenges and the pace of the game. Darren Dobson who had not fully recovered from illness had done well to last an hour but was replaced by fellow debutant Curtis Harvey.

Within moments Curtis showed his promise by winning the ball midway in the opposition's half and turning to curl a shot which went wide. Not to be deterred, he kept at his task by winning the ball and holding it up till help arrived, but his perfect debut was thwarted when he unleashed a stinging drive that looked destined for the top corner was parried by Swinton to safety.

Both sides had chances but the defences were defiantly on top. Hexham can take great pride in the fact that the average age of the team was only twenty one years and three months and they had more than held their own and could have quite easily come away with all the points.

Thanks to A2B Taxis who sponsored the game, which meant Hexham continued their unbeaten home run in the League and consolidates their mid table place. Next week its back on the road when League newcomers Swalwell are the hosts.