A 0-0 draw away to Kidsgrove Athletic is enough to take The Bucks to the top of the table.
By Brendan Doyle
Kidsgrove Athletic and Bootle see out a draw in Stoke On Trent in a 0-0 draw, although the scoreline doesn’t really reflect the entertainment of the game as it became very physical late on and both sides had big chances to take the lead.
The opening fifteen minutes to the first half was fairly quiet until Tom Peterson took Bootle’s first shot on target of the game, but was almost effortlessly parried away by Joe Williams.
As the game seemed to heat up for Bootle, Joe Williams made a fantastic save from a shot on goal by Andy Scarisbrick, but the effort wouldn’t of counted if the ball had reached the net as the linesman’s flag was raised.
Just a couple of minutes later, Kidsgrove went up at the other end which seen Aaron Bott in a one on one effort with To y Thompson, but the Bootle skipper prevented the hosts from taking the lead with a fantastic display of goalkeeping.
Anthony Miley’s header sailed just narrowly over the bar as Bootle almost went ahead. Tom Peterson had arguably the best chance of the first half as his one on one effort went wide of the goal, a chance which should have went in the back of the net in all honesty.
The half ended 0-0 with Bootle having the most chances and more possession but did nothing to make it count.
Bootle came close to edging in front as Mackenzie O’Neil drilled a pass into the area but no Bootle shirt found the ball. Anthony Miley once again had an attempt towards goal on a bouncing pass from a Ben Hodkinson corner.
Kyle Diskin had a ball fizzed to him by substitute Kingsley Adu Gyamfi but was put inches wide, much to the frustration of the forward. In all fairness, Kingsley Adu Gyamfi injected a lot of pace into Kidsgrove’s game during his tenure on the pitch.
The hosts again almost took the lead just minutes later after Tony Thompson made a save from a shot by Kingsley Adu Gyamfi bounced off Sean Smith which almost crawled into the back of the net but Tony Thompson seen out the danger. Several Bootle shirts screamed for a penalty as Mackenzie O’Neil’s shirt was pulled by Kyle Stubbs.
A chance fell to Sean Williams just outside the box but his effort only flew out to the top end of the stand. The match finished goalless but a point was enough to see The Bucks jump to the top of the league table.