Harrogate Railway Athletic 0

Kendal Town 0

TEENAGER Danny Eccles kept a clean sheet on his debut as Kendal Town were held to a goalless draw at ten-man Harrogate Railway Athletic.

With 148 goals scored between them so far this season, spectators would have been forgiven for expecting a feast of goals but - despite the hosts playing some of the second-half a man down following the dismissal of Lewis Morgan - it turned out not to be the case.

Experienced boss Mike Stringfellow named himself as a starter in central midfield in a bid to provide some steel through the spine of the team, who have recorded just three wins in 17 away matches this season.

"Away from home we have not been consistent so to get a clean sheet was very pleasing," said Stringfellow. "There were difficult conditions, the pitch wasn't ideal and didn't suit our style so we had to change our game a little.

"It's hard to put my finger on why we did not concede. We worked hard on keeping our shape in training on Tuesday and Thursday to recover quickly after attacking. A lot of it comes down to that and also the younger lads are getting that bit more understanding the more they are playing.

"But sometimes the youngsters are missing someone who can talk them through it at key points in the game. I knew I wouldn't last longer than an hour because I haven't played much but have trained a bit. I don't want to step in any of the lads' way but I can help them for the last few games if they do need it."

Stringfellow also praised debutant Eccles, who has signed on-loan from Carlisle United for the rest of the season.

"Alexander (Cameron) has done really well but he has got a bit of knee injury so we need some cover for him," he said. "I think it's good to have the option of two good goalkeepers which we have struggled with all season. They are both young keepers and it will be good to have competition for places."

Neither side were able to break the deadlock in a scrappy 90 minute encounter.

Harrogate's Rob Youhill came close to opening the scoring on 19 minutes with a driving run at Kendal's back four, only for his shot to fly wide to the right of Eccles' goals.

Morgan’s brilliant curling effort from outside the box was met by an equally impressive save from 18-year-old Eccles, who managed to tip the shot onto the bar and behind.

Mid-way through the second half and Morgan was given his marching orders by referee Helen Conley for a second bookable offence.

With the man advantage, Kendal pressed for a goal.

Home keeper Tom Goodwin produced a strong save after a shot from Craig Carney, whose shot was heading into the bottom right hand corner until Goodwin palmed the effort wide.

Defender Jordan Armstrong thwarted Zach Clark with a well-timed tackle in the penalty box before Jordan Connerton had the chance of the match to seal all three points for the visitors.

After edging past Armstrong in the 73rd minute, the ball did not sit kindly for him and the forward blazed over the bar.

The Mintcakes hosts play-off hopefuls Northwich Victoria on Saturday and Stringfellow insists his team in a positive mood.

"They are a very strong team but at home we have beaten top teams like Salford, Darlington, Droylsden, Spennymoor, Warrington so we will be full of confidence," he said.

Kendal: Eccles, Henry, Winters, Mercer (c), Forbes, Watson, Carney, Stringfellow, Helliwell, Connerton, Kelleher. Subs: Thomas, Clark, Mason, Cameron.