Mousehole 0 – 0 Melksham 

Goalless draws are very rare in Step 4 but this was the second such result in the two games between these two teams this season. One hundred and eighty minutes of football with zero goals between. Is that because their defences are really goodor because their forwards are not so good? With both teams hovering in and around the relegation zone the answer is probably the latter. 

In the run in Mousehole had already faced two other candidates for the drop: Willand and Tavistock and only managed a single point. As we’ve often seen this season the men in green and white play better against better opposition so the omens were not good. They got even worse when the team sheet came out and there was no hitman Turner and no poacher Prynn. On the upside this match saw the first start for Josh Bissett in over a year. Could his magic feet be the answer. 

In a first half which saw sixty percent of possession go to the home team they created seven chances. Sadly none were hit on target. There was some slick play, almost like the Mousehole of old, but the final product was too often rushed and wasted. With the strong wind at their backs the feeling around the ground was that a half time lead was needed. Melksham defended well and occasionally hit on the break but they too never quite had the quality to make it count. 

The best two Mousehole chances fell to Bissett and Symons. In both instances the ball came to them following nice flowing moves but both times they marginally rushed their efforts and the ball flew high and wide. 

After the break, with the wind slowing forward movement for the Seagulls it was always going to be tough but when Ed Harrison received an unlucky second yellow card  and headed for a shower the hill got steeper. What started as a match where three points were the target, suddenly a point became the aim. 

In all truth neither side looked likely to score after the dismissal. Mousehole defended valiantly and Melksham showed why they are where they are in the league with an inability to break down a team with fewer players. 

On the balance of play over ninety minutes the shared points was probably about right and with results elsewhere going their way this turned out to be a better day for Mousehole than the rest of the drop candidates. 

Five games to go.