Gravesend & Northfleet 0 Accrington Stanley 0

GRAVESEND and Accrington shared the spoils in a highly charged affair at Stonebridge Road on Saturday.

After the highs of Fleet’s epic FA Cup clash with Exeter in the week and with Stanley looking forward to their date in front of the BBC cameras next Sunday, both sides lacked the little bit of fizz needed to kill the game off.

Referee Steve Tomlinson showed seven yellow cards and one red as tempers threatened to spill over in a sometimes bad tempered game as Premiership referee Steve Bennett looked on from the stands.

Stanley starter Lutel James had the first real chance of the game when a poor clearance from Paul Wilkerson was played through to the St Kitts international, but the Fleet keeper, Tuesday’s penalty-saving hero, tipped his shot around the post.

Fleet went straight down the other end and almost opened the scoring when Rob Owen broke down the right and played a great ball inside to Steve McKimm.

McKimm turned smartly, unleashing a shot for the edge of the area that forced a flying save from Jon Kennedy.

The game then turned a little bit scrappy but both sides had chances in this period.

Stanley went close through James, with Ben Walshe and Matt Lee having efforts on target for the hosts.

Fleet should have taken the lead midway through the first-half when Walshe put in a fabulous cross that found the unmarked Ben Abbey, but the diminutive striker couldn’t stretch far enough to put the ball in the net.

In the 32nd minute Fleet were forced into desperate defending when James broke down the left and flipped a clever ball to John Durnin but Wilkerson and Francis Duku combined to block his shot.

With the score 0-0 at the break it looked like the first goal was going to win the match. Stanley lost their way in the second period and things started to go wrong for the Accrington side

Steve Halford, the tough-tackling Stanley defender, picked up his first booking on the hour and 12 minutes later got a second yellow card after tangling with Walshe in the area.

The referee pointed to the spot and sent Halford for an early bath. But Abbey’s penalty was a poor one and Kennedy dived to his left to make a reasonably comfortable save.

Fleet, possibly suffering the after effects of extra time on Tuesday, just couldn’t find a way through the hard-working Stanley defence and they were almost hit with a sucker punch two minutes from time.

Winger Rory Prendergast won the ball and crossed to James, who was unmarked six yards out, but he put his header straight at the keeper.

After the match, Fleet boss Andy Ford said: “It’s another clean sheet and another point closer to the target we want to get. Normally about 48 points puts you safe.

“We just missed out in the final third and we didn’t really get going but a few of the players were still maybe a bit drained after Tuesday - both emotionally and physically - and it seemed to have taken a lot out of them.

“Maybe that’s the reason we didn’t come out with all guns blazing but we have to make sure we do next Saturday.”

Gravesend: Wilkerson, Lee, Skinner (Daley, 81 mins), Duku, Moore, Owen, McKimm, Perkins (Drury, 45 mins), Walshe, Haworth, Abbey. Substitutes not used: O'Reilly, Pennock, McClements