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Darlington 0-0 Pilgrims

Coca-Cola League

Boston United's unbeaten run was extended to five games after a goal-less draw at Darlington. Boston made three changes over the side that had started against Grimsby at the weekend. Austin McCann was out suspended after his sending off, so Lee Canoville returned. And in a switch back to a 4-4-2 formation, midfielder Simon Rusk was preferred to striker Jason Lee. After recovering from sickness, Mark Greaves came back into the team in place of Ben Futcher. Darlington began brightly, winning a succession of corners. A early cross by Carlos Logan was almost headed into his own net by Mark Greaves, but fortunately it went just wide of the post. A long range effort by Julian Joachim lacked power and was easily saved by Sam Russell. A poor back pass by Matt Clarke caused Russell to panic and he was lucky to see his attempted clearance ricochet harmlessly off Noel Whelan. Just before half time Shelton Martis made a great goal-line block to deny Whelan.

The second half was as poor as the first. Boston were reduced to firing in harmless long-range shots. A poor clearance by Alan White fell to Clyde Wijnhard, but his shot was well blocked by Paul Ellender. Boston brought on Lawrie Dudfield for Noel Whelan and he almost broke the deadlock in the final minute when he was fouled running into the area. The referee decided that it wasn't a penalty as he adjudged the foul to have taken place just outside the area. The subsequent free-kick was easily cleared. After the match Steve Evans said: "It sets us up nicely. It's five unbeaten, if we can win at home, everybody will say Boston's starting to play. We need to get up into the mid-ranks of mid-table. Us winning football matches is just around the corner."

United team: Nathan Abbey, Lee Canoville, Paul Ellender, Alan White, Mark Greaves, Simon Rusk, Brad Maylett, Ian Ross (Danny Thomas 88), David Noble, Julian Joachim (Stewart Talbot 89), Noel Whelan (Lawrie Dudfield 77). Subs not used: Ben Futcher, Jason Lee.


Match report copyright © Ken Fox 2005.