EVESHAM United had to settle for a point from a dour encounter at the Jubilee Stadium on Saturday as play-off hopefuls Larkhall Athletic held them to a goalless draw in Southern League Division One South & West.
Blustery conditions did not help either side and defences were on top throughout as the Robins remained in the bottom half and nine points behind their opponents, albeit with three games in hand.
The first half was light on entertainment as the ball spent most of the time in the air and goalmouth action at both ends was hard to come by.
The best bit as far as Evesham were concerned arrived early doors when a good move down the left ended with Connor Thompson making a smart save from Ashley Edenborough and, with the goal at his mercy, Lance Smith – who later suffered a badly broken finger – following up contrived to roll the loose ball wide with Thompson nowhere to be seen.
Shortly afterwards Smith’s pace took him clear of a square looking Larkhall defence but once again last season’s leading scorer failed to find the target when faced with only Thompson to beat.
In a rare Larkhall attack, Robins’ keeper Kevin Sawyer was on the money to make a fine double-save from the Larks’ dangerman Luke Bryan and then comfortably collect Joe Tumelty’s looping header beneath his crossbar.
The poor quality of football continued after the interval with very little to write home about. Smith nestled a couple of efforts into the side-netting and then Sawyer stuck out a leg to boot away Bryan’s drive that looked to be heading for the corner of the net.
Evesham stepped up the pace and forced a succession of corners in the final stages but, apart from a Marcus Jackson shot that was pushed around a post by keeper Thompson at full stretch, unsurprisingly the game finished scoreless, but it did extend United’s unbeaten league run in front of the home faithful to four games.
Paul Collicutt’s Robins, who have numerous games in hand as they seek to break into the top ten, were left frustrated when Tuesday’s scheduled fixture at Cinderford Town fell victim to a waterlogged pitch.
Next up is a trip to Devon on Saturday to face Tiverton Town before a visit to Northern League Premier Division outfit Stourbridge on Tuesday for a Worcestershire Senior Cup first round tie.