Lewes 0, Basingstoke Town 0

BASINGSTOKE Town extended their unbeaten run to four matches with a 0-0 draw at Lewes.

Manager Ernie Howe felt it was a fair result on Saturday and praised the hard work of his players, especially the defence.

Howe said: "It was a very good defensive display and to be fair Scott (Tarr) had been the busier 'keeper and made a couple of good saves.

"You only get out of a game what you put in and I think our hard work deserved a point."

The Basingstoke boss was forced to make one late change to his line-up, after Liam Parrington was forced out with illness on Saturday morning, so Jamie Roach was called up from the reserves.

The home side came closest to scoring in the first half as Craig Dobson's thunderbolt shot hit the post and bounced out to safety.

Marc Whiteman also had a couple of chances for the Sussex side, but Tarr was equal to both his efforts.

After the break, Lewes' Kirk Watts hit the underside of the bar.

Then the visitors had their best goal-scoring opportunity, as Neville Roach's shot was cleared off the line by Francis Duku.

The final chance of the game fell to the home side, but Tarr was not to be denied his second consecutive clean sheet, and saved from Michael Harvey. Whiteman put the rebound into the side netting.

Tonight (7.45pm), Town will be looking for more league points as they travel to Hampshire rivals Havant and Waterlooville, for the third meeting between these clubs this season.

So far, this year, honours are even with Town winning the home league encounter 3-2 in September, before losing on their last trip in a league cup tie 2-1 in November.

The game will not be an easy one, despite Havant being 14 places below third-placed Town, as they have just appointed a new manager in former Southampton striker Ian Baird.

On Saturday, they lost at Weymouth 3-2, after being 3-0 down at half-time.

Howe said: "It is never easy playing a team with a new manager as that tends to inspire them, but we will look to continue our recent run.

"It remains to be seen how much was taken out of the players on Saturday as it was a pudding of a pitch."

Basingstoke: Scott Tarr, Brett Cooper, Nathan Stamp, Jason Bristow, Scott Smith, David Ray, Jamie McClerg, Sergio Torres, Martin Whiddett, Neville Roach, Cristian Levis (Jamie Roach 70mins). Subs (not used): Ryan Stevens, Darren Spong, Toby Sumner, Martin Zawadski.