St Albans 0 County 0

IT MAY have been match 999 since the rebirth of Newport County, but manager Peter Beadle refused to sound the alarm bells, despite dropping two points at lowly St Albans on Saturday.

After being held at home by promotion rivals Hampton & Richmond last week County were desperate to get back to winning ways against a team who have only won one home match all season, but for the second week running they had to settle for a single point.

It's safe to say that those who opted to give this trip a miss in favour of the Wales v Scotland match didn't miss that much.

The home side showed County huge respect and were dogged and determined in their pursuit of a draw, and that's what they got, deservedly so.

County were alarmingly disjointed and really missed the hard-working Craig Hughes up front.

Beadle chose to start with Jermaine Clarke in place of the suspended Hughes but his partnership with Charlie Griffin never got off the ground and County only really looked like snatching a win when Julian Alsop entered the action with 12 minutes remaining.

Before that they were grateful to the ever-reliable Glyn Thompson in goal, who made several top-notch saves to prevent a draw turning into an unthinkable defeat.

The game started slowly with very little incident early on, save for a Lee Fowler effort after two minutes which failed to trouble Nick Eyre in the home goal, and a yellow card for Jason Bowen for a late challenge.

The veteran winger took out his frustrations on the ball on 27 minutes.

From a Richard Evans corner, he showcased his great technique and unleashed a vicious left-footed volley which flashed through the crowded penalty box and wide.

St Albans finished the first half strongly, forcing three corners in five minutes around the half-hour mark as Lee Jarman replaced hamstring victim Ian Hillier at the back.

Clarke attempted to cross when in a great position to shoot after a County break but the best chance of the half went to home striker Simon Martin, who looked certain to score two minutes before the break but was denied by a point-blank Thompson save.

The former Fulham stopper was at it again five minutes after the restart, bravely diving at the feet of frontman Lee Clarke, who had somehow beaten the offside trap to find himself one on one with Thompson.

The ill-fated Griffin-Clarke partnership enjoyed its best moment on 47 minutes when Griffin ran onto Clarke's flick-on, only to skew his right-footed half- volley wide from 25 yards out.

Clarke twice rose above the home defence in the box but on both occasions he missed the target with his head, and it was no surprise when Alsop was thrown on in an attempt to break the deadlock.

He wasted no time in making his presence felt and received a talking-to from the referee for a shoving match in the area almost before he'd touched the ball.

And it was the distraction of Alsop in a crowded St Albans box which helped create two golden chances for the disappointing Griffin right at the death.

The first saw Evans put in a tempting cross from the left which the big number nine just couldn't quite get on the end of, but the second was a gilt-edged opportunity and Griffin fluffed it from three yards out.

With that went the chance of victory but, despite the obvious frustration felt by the fans, players and manager alike, this was a game which the Exiles of 18 months ago probably would have lost.

This side are nothing if not resilient, even when not at their best. They matched their hosts for effort and at the end of the season they may well come to see this as one point gained rather than two dropped as it felt on Saturday.

County are now eight games unbeaten and remain in fifth place in the table after Fisher were beaten by Eastleigh and Lewes and Hampton & Richmond could only manage draws. The promotion push is very much still on.

St Albans: Nick Eyre, Jomo Faal-Thomas, Scott Cousins, Luke Thurlborne (James Archer, 90), Ben Martin, Ryan Frater, Paul Hakin (Hassan Souleyman, 85), Jamie Quilter, Simon Martin, Lee Clarke, Paul Bruce.

Subs not used: Marcel McKie, Chris Haslan, Alex Alcot.

County: Glyn Thompson, Steve Jenkins, Damon Searle, Nathan Davies, Mark Dodds, Ian Hillier (Lee Jarman, 38), Jason Bowen, Lee Fowler, Charlie Griffin, Jermaine Clarke (Julian Alsop, 78), Richard Evans.

Subs not used: James Simpson, Ashley Evans, Tony Pennock.

Attendance: 496.