Ringwood Town were held to a 0-0 draw with East Cowes Vics despite creating a host of chances at Long Lane.
Ringwood were made to rue a hatful of chances as they shared the points with East Cowes Victoria in 0-0 draw at Long Lane on Saturday afternoon. Although, Richard Morse’s side will feel they should have taken all three points in a game they dominated.
Harry Smith spurned Town’s best chance when he beat Vics keeper, Alex Ram, to the ball but lifted his shot over the bar with an empty net in front of the striker. Ringwood keeper Joel Hirdle also produced a brilliant point-blank save to ensure Morse’s side registered justtheir second clean sheet of the campaign.
Ringwood lined up with an almost full strength squad with only Joe Manley unavailable with a hamstring injury. Top scorer Smith lined up with Ryan Hamm in attack as Ringwood reverted back to a 4-4-2 formation having played 4-3-3 for the majority of the season.
East Cowes had their own prolific striker on the pitch, Jimmi Burton. The Vics’s number nine had 19 goals prior to kick-off.
A vocal Ringwood started brightly and within the first minute the home side had carved out the first opportunity of the game.
Smith was able to lay the ball off for captain Ben Harris whose shot from the edge of the box was hit low and hard but could not find its way through a sea of orange legs.
Ringwood continued to press in the opening 10 minutes and looked the most likely team to score but on occasions looked susceptible to the counter attack.
Smith then had a chance about 20 minutes in after Callum Horton slipped the striker in on goal with a wonderful through ball.
However, the Ringwood man was unable to convert the chance as he bore down on the Ram and blasted his shot straight at the Vics - the first real chance of the game.
There were more opportunities for the home side as Smith pulled a shot wide before Harris came agonizingly close to getting a boot on the end of a cross from Hamm, but the ball flashed across the six yard box.
With half an hour approaching Cowes had their first real effort on goal.
Burton latched on to a through ball, despite looking half a yard offside, but Hirdle was quickly out to smother the striker’s shot.
Ringwood kept creating and another effort - this time from Hamm - was brilliantly saved by Ram.
Ringwood’s number nine got his head onto a Max Mason cross and the crowd thought he had scored but for the heroics of the keeper who saved with his right hand..
The two teams went into the break all square but Ringwood should have been in front with the amount of chances they had created.
Ringwood started the second half on the front foot with chances from Fay and Harris both looking to test the Cowes keeper, but neither were able to direct their efforts on target.
Smith then had a couple of chances, the first of which was a neat turn in the box but the striker dragged his shot well wide before another one on one opportunity was saved by Ram with his feet - the rebound fell to Fay whose shot was blocked and looped out for a corner.
Hirdle was then called into action and made a great point blank save as an East Cowes attacker took a shot from around the six yard box. The save was crucial as Vics had barely created any opportunities all game and ensured the home side kept the clean sheet.
Moments later, with an hour played, some sloppy defending by Charlie Hitchings almost undid Hirdle’s great work. The left back gave the ball away on the edge of the box but the East Cowes attacker dragged his shot wide - much to the relief of the home fans.
Ringwood thought they had broken the deadlock when Smith got past an on rushing Ram. The ball had bounced past the keeper leaving Smith with the task of slotting the ball into an empty net, however, off balance and with the ball bouncing, the striker could not keep the ball down and his effort sailed over the bar leaving the number seven with his head in his hands.
Fay then produced some great skill down the left as he dribbled and weaved his way through the East Cowes’ defence but was unable to find a teammate in the box after reaching the byline.
Chance after chance went begging as Harrison Clarke and substitute Josh Taylor went close but Ringwood lacked that clinical touch.
As the game entered the final 15 minutes and the frustration of the fans and dugout was starting to show. The home side had created plenty of chances to win the game and as the clock ticked down there was a sense that no goals would come no matter what they tried.
Taylor came close to a winner with just over 5 minutes to play but a last ditch tackle saw the striker denied a chance to shoot as he rounded the keeper. Then substitute Nick Magee almost scored with his first touch as connected well with a corner but the header glanced agonizingly past the far post.
With minutes to go Ringwood gave away a free kick on the edge of the box much to the despair of the crowd. Thankfully for the home side the vicious shot went high over the bar.
Jack Barton nearly clinched the winner on the stroke of full time as he rose highest to connect with a Fay cross, but his effort whistled just wide of the post and again Ringwood were left wondering what they had to do to score.
A share of the points and a clean sheet should be seen as a positive result from the home side after a run of bad form, however, with the amount of chances created this may feel like two points dropped rather than one point gained.
The result leaves Ringwood in 16th on 19 points and East Cowes remain a point behind the Hampshire-based club in 17th on 18 points in the Wessex League. Next up for Ringwood is a home tie against tendown Athletic in the Southampton Senior Cup on Tuesday night.
Ringwood: Hirdle, Mason, Hitchings, Clark, Barton, Horton, Smith, Petty, Hamm, Harris, Fay
Subs: Taylor, reilly, Smith, Magee, Knight
East Cowes Victoria: Ram, Berry, White, West, Gregory, Maynard, Chapman, Lyon, Burton, Kirby, Yates
Subs:, Snow, Woodford, Mursek, Catania