Windscale extended their unbeaten record in the Wearside League to four games when they drew 0-0 at Silksworth Colliery.
Three of the last four games have been away so to collect 10 points in the process has been a good effort.
With regular choice keeper Ian Stuholme unavailable, Andrew Richardson grasped the opportunity for a stint between the sticks.
Windscale were sitting a place below fifth-placed Silksworth and prior to the game the fixture looked to be an exciting prospect. However, this was not the case.
On a poor surface it was Silksworth who were predominately on top in the first period with the Atoms poor in possession. Silksworth’s high work rate off the ball prevented the visitors producing any constructive play.
In the second period Windscale were braver on the ball, becoming more compact which gave the hosts more problems in building any worthwhile attacks.
With the change in approach, Windscale had some good spells of possession creating a few good chances.
The best opportunity came from a Lewis Jolly corner, but unfortunately Ross Leeson was unable to place his header into the goal with the ball scraping the top of the bar and out of play.
There was one particular incident which could have had a major impact on the outcome.
Richardson came charging out of his box to clear the ball and prevent a Silksworth goal, and the referee was about to dismiss the keeper for handling the ball outside of the area.
Following the intervention of the assistant referee who confirmed that Richardson had indeed not used his hands, the decision was changed to a dropped ball which was comfortably dealt with by the Windscale rear-guard.
Both teams continued to search for a winning goal but the game ended in a 0-0 stalemate, probably the correct result.
