HAMWORTHY UNITED RES 0

BALTI SPORTS 0

BALTI Sports battled unavailability, a bizarre red card and injuries to claim a 0-0 draw at high-flying Hamworthy United Reserves.

Balti could only take 11 players to the County Ground for their Jewson Dorset Premier League clash and adopted a backs-to-the-wall approach.

Their method of defending deep before springing a counter-attack caused the Hammers a headache as Carl McClements fired over from 18 yards.

Danny Andrews then rounded keeper Jakub Lewiarz only to hit the post, before Alex Halloran rifled wide.

READ MORE: Bridport Reserves 0-1 Balti Sports - report

Hamworthy dominated possession all game and turned up the tempo in the second half aided by a second yellow card for McClements, who Balti claimed had not been booked.

Pete Jarvis then picked up a calf strain but Hamworthy were denied as Matthew Rennie was twice wasteful, Kai McCrow and Dwayne Yeboah also missing chances.

However, third-choice keeper Nott, playing due to regular back-up Dec Spearing’s emergency striker role, pulled off an important late stop from Rennie to preserve a share of the points for his determined side.

Speaking to Echosport, Nott again took issue with the availability issues that have plagued his squad this season.

He said: “It was an absolute shambles. I was in goal, Dec was up front and we had to sign Mike Stone on the Friday. We were so short.

“So, the point was very good. The lads gave absolutely everything. The shape and way we wanted to play worked to perfection. We were outstanding defensively.”

Balti visit Blandford on Saturday (3pm) and Nott called for his players to stand up and be counted at Park Road.

He added: “They’re a bit of a bogey team for us and we seem to struggle against them most seasons, especially at their place.

“We need to up our availability drastically to give ourselves a chance. We’ve got three clean sheets out of four now so we’ve got a good basis to work on.

“We just need players, it’s as simple as that. We can’t be expected to do anything if we’ve only got seven regular first-teamers. We’re punching above our weight getting that point.”

McClements and Jarvis miss out, as does Andrews, meaning Balti are again faced with a selection dilemma.

Balti: M Nott, Stone, Harvey, Burton, Butcher, McClements, Jarvis, Halloran, Chambers, Andrews, Spearing.