Spoils are shared between Maidenhead United and Altrincham in goalless draw

Nathan Blissett. Photo: Grace Scott

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Maidenhead United 0, Altrincham 0

Neither the Magpies nor the Robins were able to claw all three points on Saturday afternoon, with the sides settling on a goalless stalemate at York Road.

Alan Devonshire was quick to concede his side didn’t do enough to claim victory, but he was satisfied with the point, more so the clean sheet, following Tuesday night’s defeat at Dagenham & Redbridge.

Nathan Blissett’s ninth-minute strike from distance – which was palmed out for a corner by Steven Drench – was as close as the home side got to a goal with chances at a premium in the cold March air.

Phil Parkinson’s men pushed and probed inside the area for a breakthrough but were well stifled throughout the 90 minutes by the centre-back partnership of Alan Massey and Will De Havilland.

“I don’t think either team did enough to win the game,” said Devonshire at full-time. “There were two tired teams out there today.

“But, listen, we’ve come a long way in a short period of time and it was imperative that we got a response from the loss earlier this week.

“We were poor, but we’ve managed to get a point, a clean sheet too, and we move on to the next game.”

Moments after Blissett’s blast within the opening 10 minutes, the ball was down the other end with Daniel Mooney attempting to lift it over Dan Gyollai.

The Magpies’ hot property, Josh Kelly, floated an effort narrowly wide next as he looked to nestle the ball in Drench’s top right corner.

Dan Sparkes sent in a sumptuous free kick just before the half-hour mark with De Havilland nodding just past the right post, before Jordan Hulme got the away supporters’ hopes up shortly after.

With great skill, the Robins’ skipper jinked his way past Massey and into the box, but just as he was about to pull the trigger, the Magpies’ captain made a remarkable block at the expense of a corner.

Entering the final 10 minutes of the first half, the visitors had the majority of possession, but opportunities of scoring were at a minimum.

Ryan Upward registered the first shot after the interval when the ball set up nicely for him on the edge of the area, but, frustratingly, the midfielder’s effort was off target.

In the 57th minute, Daniel Mooney rattled the crossbar with a long-range attempt and with the ball bouncing off the underside of the woodwork, many in attendance thought it had crossed the line.

Much to the relief of the Bell Street End, referee Scott Jackson and his linesman disagreed.

The spell that followed was a feisty one with several players from both sides going into Jackson’s book for strong challenges just past the hour mark.

With time running out, Devonshire turned to his bench and elected to bring on Shawn McCoulsky for Blissett, Reece Smith for Charlee Adams, and Shaun Donnellan for Kane Ferdinand.

A teasing cross from Kelly appeared as though it was going to catch Drench out in the 84th minute but the Robins ‘keeper was on his toes to claim.

Sam Beckwith then sent one in himself which was flicked superbly on to Shawn McCoulsky only for the Magpies’ forward to be beaten to the ball by an onrushing Drench.

A few penalty appeals from Altrincham were waved away in the dying embers of normal time, and with five minutes extra to play the Magpies held on to leapfrog their rivals in the National League.