Melton Town and Heanor Town battle out a goal-less draw
Melton Town are still waiting for their first win and first goal of the new year after drawing 0-0 at home to Heanor Town at the weekend.
Melton welcomed back last season's top scorer Kairo Edwards-John. And in the 13th minute he received a short corner and went past Alex Britton on the byline before firing in a shot which smacked the foot of the post.
He was at it again when Jack Butterfillplayed a through ball to Edwards-John, he again beat Britton for pace before finding the target with a powerful shot which needed Jake Sykes to pull off a great save.
Heanor's first chance came halfway through the first half when a corner went to the back post where Sam Brown had a free header which required a good save from Bill Harrison.
Melton went straight up the other end of the pitch and a clever free-kick was played into Jack Butterfill who turned and fired in a shot which was blocked only for it to fall to Tom Wakley next to the far upright, but again his tap in was blocked on the line.
Just after the half hour and a Heanor free-kick was played into Melton's box which was only half cleared to Sam Brown unmarked, but he lacked composure by hitting the ball 10 foot over the bar.
The first action of the second half saw Theo Sackey-Mensah drive to the byline before pulling back the ball to Kieran Hayes whose low shot saw Sykes down quick to palm the ball around his upright.
Melton nearly broke the deadlock in the 56th minute when a quick throw-in caught Heanor napping and Hayes touched onto Edwards-John who. from 30 yards, hit a wonderful effort which went inches over the crossbar.
The next attack saw Butterfill playing a through ball to Ryan Calver who was wide of the Heanor Box but his effort went the wrong side of the post.
In the 72nd minute a Heanor corner found Cian Zamboglon unmarked and his shot was blocked on the line, Melton struggle to clear it in a mad scramble which ended with a wayward shot.
Four minutes later and a Heanor corner saw a Ben Richards header hit the top of the crossbar. Another quick break by the visitors saw a great pass find Josh Craddock unmarked on the penalty spot and his shot needed a great save from Harrison.
With two minutes to go a long ball over the top of the Heanor defence found Keenan King wide of the area who managed to get a shot off into the side-netting.
The final action happen in injury time when Toby Fura had an effort from 20 yards out which needed a good save from the Heanor keeper. Heanor move out of the relegation zone with this battling effort and both teams defended well but Melton have drawn a blank in their last 3 games and will need to change that soon.
They visit third placed Sherwood next Saturday with fourth placed Grantham the visitors the week after.