Deal Town vs Corinthian

Recap

Hoops manager Derek Hares highlighted his side’s defensive record in home league games so far this season after Saturday’s goalless draw with Corinthian.

“It’s another clean sheet and means we’ve only let in four goals in six league games here this season,” he said. “We would have liked the three points but I think a draw was probably a fair result and I can’t fault the boys’ effort or commitment in any way while Kane Smith was outstanding in defence.”

The Hoops, however, have only scored seven goals in those same six matches and once again they were unable to convert plenty of promising situations into an end product, with Hares admitting: “We didn’t show enough quality in the final third but, considering the number of players we were missing, I’ve got to be pleased with a point.”

With the two sides having very similar league records so far this campaign a tight game was always a possibility and that’s the way it turned out with clear-cut chances few and far between. In the first half the Hoops saw a couple of goal-bound efforts blocked by Corinthian defenders while James Billings pulled a good chance wide at the other end as half-time approached.

Connor Coyne went close with another of his long-distance volleys soon after the restart and then Corinthian almost broke the deadlock when Billings struck the bar with a 63^rd-minute free kick,  but with neither side able to produce a “killer” ball into the box they had to settle for a hard-fought point apiece.

Deal: Tonkin, Paxman, D Smith, Scott (Zureiqi), K Smith, Hark, Miller, Walsh (Anderson 88), Coyne, Adams (Beesley 60), Alexander.