Bradbury pleased with Hawks point at basement side

Wes Fogden had a shot saved in the first minute at Whitehawk.

The National League South leaders were held to a 0-0 stalemate at the basement side yesterday, missing an opportunity to move five points clear of Dartford.

The Hawks now have a three-point advantage over the Tunnellers, whose clash at East Thurrock was postponed, but they have a game in hand.

Despite only collecting a draw at The Enclosed Ground, Bradbury took the positives from his side’s performance.

He said: ‘It was a good, strong, brave performance by us.

‘We looked fitter against a team that hadn’t played on Friday.

‘Although we started strongly we just couldn’t find the final touch to the opportunities that we created.

‘In the end, it was another clean sheet against a team good at set-pieces.

‘We stood up to them well and if we keep putting in performances like this we won’t be far off.

‘There are a lot of positives we can take forward from this.

‘We had to make changes and the players coming in did well.

‘Dartford now have a game in hand on us but they still have to go and get something from that game at East Thurrock.

‘They might not find that so easy.’

The Hawks made three changes to their starting line-up from their win over Weston-super-Mare on Friday.

As expected, Dan Strugnell and Andreas Robinson came in for injured pair Ryan Woodford and Mike Carter.

In a surprise move, James Hayter replaced Matt Tubbs up front.

Bradbury’s troops showed their attacking threat from the kick-off and home keeper Daniel Wilks saved low to his left from Wes Fogden in the first minute.

It was the Hawks who continued to make the running and Whitehawk’s shot-stopper again did well to deflect an awkward bouncing Andreas Robinson shot behind for a corner.

Further chances fell to the Hawks, who were playing down the slope before the break. Rory Williams and Robinson had opportunities but failed to make the breakthrough.

The home side stepped up a gear at the start of the second half and caused the Hawks a few more problems.

On 69 minutes Bradbury’s men had their biggest let-off when Kodi Lyons-Foster flashed a header narrowly wide of the post.

Ten minutes from the end Wilks made another good save to keep out a crashing shot from Theo Lewis.

In a frenetic final few minutes Bradbury was sent to the stands by the referee and the game ended goalless.