Sutton United 0 Dorchester Town 0

Sutton United fans endured a second successive grim goalless draw at Gander Green Lane last night.

United had the best chance only for Matt Gray to miss the first home penalty they had been awarded this season.

Although Dorchester had a string of penalties in the second half, their best chance came after referee Carl Brook had failed to spot a blatant foul on Sutton keeper Phil Wilson.

The game had a promising start, with Bashiru Alimi having a close range shot blocked early on.

Alimi then ran on to Warren McBean's header after Wilson had launched a clearance downfield, but mis-hit his shot too close to goalkeeper Simon Evans.

Wilson's clearance came after he had saved a close range header from the dangerous Matt Groves, who had a similar chance soon afterwards but again failed to get the power behind his header to trouble the keeper.

A clash of heads between Ross Gaynor and Simon Browne required both to return with bandaged heads.

With visiting centre back Alex Browne already bandaged to protect an injury picked up a fortnight ago the pitch resembled a casualty station for a while, with Gaynor forced off at half time to receive stitches.

United#s chance to go in front came after 26 minutes as a cross from the right eluded McBean and Alimi, arriving late, was tripped as he went between two defenders.

It was only Sutton's second penalty in the league this season, with the first having come in the game at Dorchester in November.

However, it was the fifth meeting in a row between the sides in which United have been awarded a spot kick.

Gray, who had converted the previous four, as he has virtually every other penalty he's taken during his Sutton career, hit this one too close to Evans, who dived to his left to save.

Gray, Gaynor and Solomon Taiwo all tried to scramble in the rebound before Mr Brook spotted a foul on a defender.

United had a scare five minutes before the break when Taiwo lost possession to Justin Keeler, who sent Groves through the middle.

Wilson came outside his area to block amid claims of handball, and although Mr Brook immediately waved play on and indicated that the ball had hit the keeper's chest, assistant Shaun Scott was flagging, presumably thinking the keeper had handled outside his area.

Wilson had to endure an anxious moment as the officials consulted before the referee's original decision prevailed.

As well as the departure of Gaynor, United also replaced Ryan Palmer at the interval, giving manager Ian Hazel a chance to look at Taiwo as a right back.

It also gave United a revised front line of Richard Harris and Jason Henry, the latter seeing a snap volley from 20 yards deflected wide and causing Evans to come outside his area to clear on more than one occasion.

But, even with McBean's support as the game went on, there was little sustained threat until Harris headed a Gray corner wide five minutes from the end.

Wilson had to save efforts from Barry McConnell and Jamie Gleeson at the other end, but the visitors' big chance came controversially with six minutes left as Gavin McCallum raised his foot to block a Wilson drop-kick.

That deflected the ball to McConnell who immediately returned the pass, only for McCallum to shoot over the bar.

It spared the referee some serious embarrassment for having his back to the incident and therefore being unable to give United the free kick they should have had.

Sutton: P Wilson, R Palmer(sub J Henry H-T), A Bray, J Scarborough, L Gonsalves, S Taiwo, M Gray, P Honey, R Gaynor(sub R Harris H-T), W McBean, B Alimi. Sub n/u E Akuamoah, S Clayton, L Naughton. Booked: Honey(72-persistent infringement), Gray(81-foul).

Dorchester: S Evans, R Hill, T Parker, J Gleeson, A Browne, S Browne, B McConnell, M Robinson, G McCallum, M Groves, J Keeler. Subs n/u S De-Mata, D Town, M Jermyn, G Bowles, A Knight. Booked: S Browne(87-foul).

Referee : C Brook(St Leonards)

Attendance: 361