Hungerford Town make it eight draws from nine away at Hanwell
Hungerford Town drew 0-0 away at Hanwell Town on Saturday afternoon.
Friday had brought news of two departures from Bulpit Lane, with striker James Harding leaving for Bishops Cleeve, having scored once in thirteen appearances.
Zidan Akers also departed the club, heading south to sign for Sholing following 20 appearances, two goals and two assists for Hungerford.
Saturday saw a return for fan-favourite winger Elis Watts out wide, while former Aston Villa youngster Luke Softley earned a start at centre-back as Ramarni Medford-Smith served a suspension.
Striker Dawid Regula applied early pressure in the second minute, forcing a corner to set the tone.
A series of offsides followed, before Watts found Regula with a through ball in the eighteenth minute.
His cutback across the box was met by onrushing midfielder Brad Hooper, but his shot was denied strongly by the Hanwell keeper.
The half hour mark saw another chance for the visitors, as central midfielder Joe Shepherd burst through the lines and played in Regula, whose shot was blocked.
Just minutes later centre-back Matt Berry Hargreaves clipped a signature pass over the Hanwell defence, but Regula was just unable to meet it.
The second half began with a Softley header which went just over.
Another slide-rule pass from Watts found midfielder Brandon Curtis, who couldn’t make it stick, before winger Alefe Santos saw a shot blocked soon after.
Hungerford continued to apply pressure, with Watts testing the keeper, but they couldn’t find the breakthrough.
It was almost a disastrous ending, as keeper Ryan Clarke did well to make a crucial save in the dying seconds to see it end 0-0.
The Crusaders have now drawn eight of their last nine games, a streak which began in September.
This improbable run has seen four goalless draws, three 1-1 draws and one 2-2 against Winchester City.
This is, performance wise, an improvement on their opening eight games of the season, which saw them lose five times.
Although that opening stretch saw three wins, meaning that they still scored more points in that run than they have in their last nine matches.
This stabilisation of form has left the club 19th in the Southern League, fourth from bottom, but well clear of doomed Frome Town in last place.
Hungerford remain only six points away from the top half, while their goal difference of nought stands out from the sides around them.
A busy December sees trips to Dorchester, Gosport Borough and Taunton Town, with Marlow coming to visit on the 14th and Merthyr Town arriving at Bulpit Lane on Boxing Day.