Kirby Muxloe 1
Pinchbeck United 1
It was a case of two points dropped for Pinchbeck United on Saturday as they were unable to break down struggling hosts Kirby Muxloe in a 1-1 draw.
The Knights were bidding to keep up their hopes of a top four finish in the Future Lions UCL Premier Division by sweeping aside their relegation-threatened hosts at Ratby Lane.
But they were up against it from quite early on, with Daniel Barber giving Kirby an 11th-minute lead.
The recalled Tony Edwards did haul Pinchbeck level on the half-hour, but they failed to build on that with a winner and were forced to settle for a share of the spoils.
Player/boss Ian Dunn felt his side weren’t at their best going forward, but did hail the return of striker Jordan Nuttell following a lengthy lay-off due to injury.
Dunn said: “It was a tough battle on a tough pitch – and we didn’t do enough going forward.
“We huffed and we puffed and created chances, but didn’t work the keeper enough.
“I can’t fault everyone’s effort, they gave it their all on a difficult pitch.
“But, sometimes when it doesn’t go your way, you’ve got to find a different way of opening the door.
“Unfortunately, we kept trying the same door and it wouldn’t open.
“That’s been the pattern of recent games and we seem to be in that rut where we need goals to settle us down.
“Things just didn’t work out, we made probably three mistakes for the goal. Apart from that, I thought we looked solid all game and never really looked like conceding.
“But, had we not made those mistakes, we’d have probably won 1-0. It wasn’t to be though and we move on.
“It was good to have Jordan Nuttell back, he’s getting there fitness-wise. He’s not quite fully fit yet, but that run out will do him the world of good confidence-wise.
“I thought he looked dangerous when he came on and I thought we looked more dangerous, too.
“That’s a massive positive for us and it’ll be a case of small steps at a time and hopefully work him back into the squad.
“Hopefully he’ll be ready to get a start before the end of the season. He looked good when he came on and it’s great to have him back again.”
With Andrew Tidswell out injured, Chris Shipley took the captain’s armband as the Knights utilised a 3-4-3 formation.
Ollie Maltby headed the first chance of the game straight at the keeper, but the hosts soon went ahead when Barber raced on a long ball over the top and fired past Ricky Lovelace.
The Knights tried to hit back immediately and twice went close when Harry Limb fired strikes off target before Edwards equalised.
A great whipped cross into the box by Lee Beeson was buried by the striker.
Alex Beck almost grabbed his first Pinchbeck goal just before the break, but fired into the side-netting following a deep ball into the box by Edwards.
After the interval Harry Vince had a great chance to get Pinchbeck ahead early in the second half, but lashed over from 18 yards out when totally unmarked.
It was all the away side at this point, with Maltby seeing a shout for a penalty waved away before then heading a Beeson delivery over.
With ten minutes remaining Vince blazed the best chance of the half over and Maltby fired straight at the keeper as Muxloe held on for a point.
Knights: Lovelace, Wilson, Field, Vince, Jackson, Shipley, Beeson (Adams), Limb (West), Maltby, Beck (Nuttell), Edwards. Not used: Cartwright, Ross.
