Evesham Utd 0, Stourbridge 0 A FIRST home league draw for Evesham and a first away stalemate for the visitors will leave both sides happy in their respective quests for promotion.

A horrible night at St George's Lane saw Paul West's men extend their lead at the summit to eight points after withstanding a second half bombardment as they played into the teeth of the wind and rain.

The Robins don't boast the best defensive record in the division for nothing and another resolute defensive display earned what could be a crucial point.

And, they may well have sneaked all three as Craig Slater's last-ditch clearance thwarted Gary Hay 14 minutes from time and a minute later Mark Hands had the ball in the net but an assistant referee had already raised his flag for offside.

The Robins had a let-off after 17 minutes when Ryan Broadhurst's shot clipped a post, while Paul Bonar and Mark Owen had shots for the hosts that went over the crossbar.

Hay broke clear after 56 minutes but shot wide, while both Mark Hands and Anthony Watson cleared over their own crossbar and Nathan Vaughan produced an acrobatic flip over to keep out a second half corner.

Simon Fitter and substitute Joe Clarke fired over from 25 yards as the rain abated but it's another point in Evesham's locker and they will take all the catching with eight games remaining.