SOUTH: Sutton Utd 0 Bishop's Stortford 0

A difficult week for Sutton ended with a point in the wind and rain at Gander Green Lane on Saturday after a defiant performance from goalkeeper Phil Wilson kept Bishop's Stortford at bay as they looked to capitalise on the benefit of the conditions as the game went on.

As well as seeing the end of their FA Cup hopes, last week's two meetings with Bromley had cost U's the services of Joff Vansittart, Scott Corbett, Paul Honey and leading scorer Craig Watkins through injury, and Watkins'pace in particular was missed despite a steady if unspectacular debut from Warren Haughton, the former Woking and Havant striker who joined from Lewes on Friday.

Given that casualty list, U's were probably owed a slice of luck, and the visitors will claim that it came with sixteen minutes left when the otherwise excellent Tony Quinton sold Wilson short with a back pass; Duane Jackman, by some distance the best attacking player on view, reached the ball first and took it round Wilson before being brought down by the keeper. A lot of people in the ground would have been expecting referee Gary Ives to follow up his penalty decision with a card, and probably a red one, as although Jackman was going from right to left he was near the penalty spot when fouled. Mr Ives decided that the penalty was sufficient punishment however, and Wilson made the most of his reprieve by diving to his right to keep out Dave Rainford's spot kick.

If U's deserved a slice of luck, so did Wilson as he had already made three good saves either side of half time to keep his side in with a chance of victory.

It was a game of few clear scoring opportunities in increasingly difficult conditions, and indeed the first half-hour passed almost without incident, except for the booking of John Scarborough for a heavy challenge on Alex Martin. Neither side had managed to find a good enough final pass or cross to trouble the goalkeepers, but in the 31st minute Haughton had a chance to make an impact on U's fans when a short corner routine between Matt Gray and Glenn Boosey almost went wrong, but was rescued in time for Gray to cross low to the near post where Haughton arrived but contrived to put the ball wide when it looked easier to score.

Two minutes later the visitors threatened for the first time as a misdirected defensive header allowed Jackman to burst through on the left. He turned brilliantly inside Lewis Gonsalves and squared a pass to Rainford, but Wilson came to U's rescue by saving with his legs.

As Sutton suffered an awkward five minutes Richard Howell jinked into the area but failed to find enough power to beat Wilson, who also held on to a low shot from Paul Hakim while Dave Theobald, on loan from Canvey Island, headed wide from a free kick.

With the wind and rain on their backs in the second half Bishop's will have felt confident at the break, but Sutton came out strongly for the second period and had the ball in the net within three minutes as Boosey scrambled a half cleared corner across goal and Andrew Martin bundled the ball in at the far post only to be denied by what must have been a very tight offside decision. Two minutes later, though, Wilson plunged to his right to keep out a volley on the turn from Howell, and was up quickly enough to force Jackman to put the rebound wide. He then kept out a Jackman header from a free kick, failing to hold the ball but helped out by a defence that stood up well in the conditions whenever Stortford ran at them, Quinton and Gonsalves in particular judging several challenges to perfection.

Midway through the half Sutton carved out a chance of their own as Rob Elliott was out quickly to deny Boosey as the ball broke on the left of the penalty area, but the ball came only as far as Martin, whose goalbound shot was deflected away for a corner.

Although Quinton headed a Gray corner just over with ten minutes left the greater threat was always at the other end, and despite Rainford's failure from the penalty spot the visitors could still have grabbed the points when Jackman again went clear with just five minutes left, but again Wilson was equal to the task, blocking the shot with his legs to ensure that U's would be the only team in the bottom four to avoid defeat.

Sutton: P Wilson, M Gray, E Akuamoah , N Brake, J Scarborough, G Boosey , P Fear, T Quinton, W Haughton, Andrew Martin, L Gonsalves. Subs n/u: G Tydeman, E Arkali, S Booth
Booked: Scarborough (26 - foul)

Bishop's Stortford: R Elliott, A Allman, G Gwillim, D Rainford, A Riches, D Theobald, R Howell, S Parmenter, P Hakim, D Jackman, Alex Martin. Subs n/u: R Gillman, T Langer, M Hayes, A Fenton, A Young.

Referee: G Ives

Attendance: 457