Football
Reds make a point

REDDITCH United are still looking to score their first goal after making a poor start to their new Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division campaign.

The Reds crashed to a 3-0 opening day defeat at Hitchin Town but they did bounce back to grab their first point of the season in a 0-0 draw against newly-promoted Bedworth United at the Valley Stadium on Tuesday night.

It could have been so diffferent at Hitchin where the Reds made a promising start with newcomer Chraisma Agbonlahor squandering a golden opportunity in the 16th minute.

Agbonlahor almost opened the scoring after 32 minutes but his well struck shot was superbly tipped over the bar by home keeper Martin Bennett.

The visitors then lost their way and Hitchin took full advantage by taking a 36th minute lead through Dean Gilbert who was on hand to head home Callum Donnelly’s free kick.

The advantage was increased three minutes after the break when Kyle Lincoln punished some defensive hesitancy to slot home.

The heat took its toll on the players with the pace dropping considerably and there was no way back for Redditch.

Indeed, they fell further behind in the closing stages when Luke Gregson burst clear and scored at the second attempt after his intial effort had been smartly saved by Reds keeper Niall Cooper.

Reds opened their points account against Bedworth in a hard fought contest in which clear cut chances were few and far between.

The visitors spurned a golden opportunity virtually straight from the kick-off when David Kolodynski was left in the clear but the diminutive Bedworth striker failed to hit the target from ten yards.

Kolodynski had another effort cleared off the line by Aaron Stringfellow, while keeper NiallCoooper produced two excellent saves to deny Sam Belcher and Alex Dean just before the break.

The Reds only meaningful effort of the night came early in the second half when Charisma Agbonlahor saw his low drive turned away by visiting keeper Andy Kemp at full stretch.

Reds face a trip to newly-promoted Gosport Borough tomorrow (Saturday) before travelling to Banbury United on bank holiday Monday. Both games kick-off at 3pm.

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