Lincoln City extended their unbeaten run to ten games, holding play-off chasing Stevenage to a goalless draw at the LNER Stadium.
The Imps were hoping to extend their nine game unbeaten run with another big three points in their late play-off push. The run has included five wins in their last six and three successive clean sheets.
Michael Skubala made one change to the side that beat Shrewsbury 3-0 in midweek, handing Jack Moylan his first start for the club to replace the injured Conor McGrandles.
Stevenage travelled to Lincolnshire, riding the wave of back-to-back victories that put them back in the driving seat in the hunt to reach the League One play-offs.
First-Half:
As expected, it was the Imps who had most of the early possession without creating anything of note. Stevenage used their more direct approach to get League One top-scorer Jamie Reid into play.
The first big chance of the game fell to a man in red hot form, Reeco Hackett. The wing-back was first to pounce on a poor Stevenage clearance, but dragged his shot just wide of the post.
It was a closely contested affair with both sides battling for control in midfield and neither being able to have a sustained period of momentum.
Perhaps the biggest cheer of the first half came when Boro boss Steve Evans was shown a yellow card for his complaints to the officials. The decision was greeted with almost a standing ovation from the Imps fans, who had unveiled a banner pre match mocking the 61-year-old Scotsman.
Jamie Reid came closest to a clear-cut opportunity for Stevenage on 38 minutes as Paudie O’Connor didn’t deal with a long ball and allowed the striker a shot at goal, but Lukas Jensen bailed his captain out, standing tall to block the shot.
Joe Taylor’s spinning effort flew over the bar in the closing moments of the half in a moment which summed up the opening 45 for both sides, a lot of ifs, buts and maybes.
Second-Half:
The second period began without much change from the first, a scrappy dogfight that could go either way with a moment of quality.
Jack Moylan had struggled to have an impact in his first start for the club but sprung into life on 53 minutes, his weaving run and shot was well headed behind by Boro captain Carl Piergianni.
Stevenage just started to assert their dominance on the hour mark, some clever corner routines caused The Imps’ defence some trouble, but they kept robust.
Perhaps recognising that shift in momentum Michael Skubala made a change to his strike force as Freddie Draper replaced Joe Taylor, the young forward had an immediate impact proving his physicality against a strong Stevenage back four.
On 69 minutes the already booked Ethan Erhahon had Imps fans with their hearts in their mouths as he pushed Louis Thompson to the ground. There were huge calls from the away end for a second yellow, but Bobby Madley decided a talking to was enough for the midfielder.
Steve Evans responded with four changes of his own with 18 minutes to play, changing his entire frontline in an attempt to ruffle the feathers of the Lincoln backline.
However, the game seemed to fizzle out from that point with no major chances threatening to win the game for either of the teams.
Lincoln City 0-0 Stevenage:
A game that in truth never lived up to the high expectations considering the form both sides came into the game in.
There were plenty of nearly moments for both sides but in the end neither had the quality to go on and grab all three points, meaning a draw was probably fair.
Lincoln travel to Oakwell to face an in-form Barnsley side next weekend, in what will be another tough test for Skubala’s men. They will go with confidence, having showed they can compete with some of the best in the division in recent weeks.