MINEHEAD and leaders Ashton & Backwell United fought out a goalless draw before a large crowd, swelled further by a coach of supporters from Backwell, at The Rec in the first division of the Uhlsport Somerset County Football League.

A competitive game throughout saw the visitors come out of the traps the quickest, but after opening exchanges the game soon became balanced but with Minehead making noticeably more ventures into their opponents’ penalty area.

However, neither side created any real, clear-cut chances. With an extreme end to end wind blowing towards the visitors’ goal in the first half, Minehead frequently broke through the Backwell defence, with Toby Waghorn’s pace often getting him through, but it was generally in wide positions and Backwell’s central defenders did all they could to stand firm.

An increase in direct attempts on goal made the game more of a spectacle, and five minutes into the half Backwell’s Luca Bailey’s drive from thirty yards brought a good save out of Kyran Wilkins, and shortly afterwards Rob Vickers, elevated to a more attacking role after the break, cleverly beat a defender and tore along the top line before crossing into the box which found Waghorn, but a desperate challenge by the last defender foiled the centre forward when a goal looked nailed on.

On the hour mark Minehead brought on their talisman striker Guy Burns, who has still not started a game this season due to a long-term injury, and within five minutes the crowd saw a trademark jinking run take him to the edge of the box, but his shot curled a foot over the angle.

Backwell then went closer still when a direct run by left winger Luke Southern saw him cut in and his shot from an angle went over Wilkins but bounced off the top of the bar for a goal kick.

With Minehead then piling on the pressure until the end they nearly got their reward when Waghorn again burst clear, but another superb challenge, this time by Luca Bailey, meant the scores remained level at full time.

Sharing the points means Minehead would still overtake the leaders if they win their three games in hand, but there are a few other clubs having good runs who will also have eyes on a top three promotion place.Man of the Match: Will Singleton-Voss.

The Blues will be looking to get back to winning ways on Saturday, when their final game of 2024 sees them travel to Middlezoy Rovers Reserves. Minehead will be looking to avenge a four-goal drubbing they received at The Rec on the opening day of the season.

Having led the table in the early weeks, their opponents have since slipped down the table and currently occupy a relegation position.