Fleetwood Town were held to a goalless draw against Cheltenham Town at Highbury on Tuesday evening.
Even though the Cods created a multitude of chances and seemed to have the world against them with some of the decisions, the game seemed destined to finish as a 0-0 draw. Callum Morton looked lively all evening and, with him being named man of the match, his performance was only missing a goal.
It was a lively start to the game, with both sides creating chances in the opening 15 minutes. This started with a moment of madness from Robins defender Lewis Freestone as his headed-back pass almost went straight past Luke Southwood, but the ‘keeper was able to recover.
It was end-to-end after that point as Toto Nsiala was called into action to get in the way of Liam Sercombe’s shot before Harvey Macadam had a chance of his own for Fleetwood, which forced a diving save from Cheltenham’s number one.
Strikes from distance soon followed from the two teams as Danny Andrew and Daniel N’Lundulu both saw their shots from range go off-target, not troubling either goalkeeper.
Fleetwood and the Robins each had good chances to break the deadlock before the break as Jay Lynch was called into action to stop Caleb Taylor’s header from six yards before Callum Morton went down the other end, tricked his way past his marker, but dragged his shot making it easy for Southwood.
A moment of controversy late in the half showed itself as four minutes before the break, Promise Omochere played Morton through one-on-one, but the forward seemed to be fouled by Freestone, with everyone in the stadium thinking the same, apart from the referee who waved play on – even after all the shouts from on the pitch.
It was more of the same in the second half as everyone came out of the traps looking for the opener. Substitute Joe Garner did brilliantly to work a yard before playing the ball out wide to Morton, whose effort flew just high and wide of the target.
Two minutes later, it was the turn of the visitors as Ryan Jackson ran down the right and picked out Alfie May in the middle, but his shot was brilliantly blocked by Josh Earl. Taylor Perry also had a half-chance soon after as he saw his volley from 20-yards go well clear of Lynch’s goal.
Fleetwood really came to life just after the hour mark, and it started with a roulette skill move from Dan Batty! The midfielder had a chance soon after the skill as he struck the ball towards goal and, even after a knock off Elliott Bonds’ leg, it went into the side netting.
J.Garner had a shot of his own two minutes later as he latched onto a loose ball inside the box, which had to be saved, with Shaun Rooney then rising highest in the box only to see his header stopped by Southwood.
Just before the final whistle, Hayes was fouled 20-yards out which meant Andrew would stand out a set-piece from a dangerous range - the effort though was blocked by the wall and cleared. Further efforts from Rooney and Andrew followed but none were able to find the back of the net.
Town XI: Lynch (GK), Andrew, Mendes Gomes (J.Garner 36’), Vela (C), Morton, Omochere, Nsiala, Batty (Hayes 72’), Rooney, Macadam (Wiredu 61’), Earl.
Unused subs: Stolarczyk (GK), G.Garner, Johnston, Baker.
Robins XI: Southwood (GK), Long (C), Williams (Ferry 80’), Freestone, Sercombe, N’Lundulu, May, Taylor, Jackson (Raglan 85’), Bonds, Perry (Adshead 77’).
Unused subs: MacDonald (GK), Brown, Lloyd, Norton.