Devonshire believes Magpies ‘dominated’ the second half against Stones

Alan Devonshire saw his side dominate the second half of Tuesday's clash with Wealdstone at Grosvenor Vale, but the visitors didn't get their just desserts with the clash finishing in a goalless draw.

The Magpies were boosted by the return to the starting lineup of Sam Barratt (right) and he came closer than anyone to breaking the deadlock, hitting the bar from a free kick as the visitors pressed for all three points. In fact the post came to the hosts’ rescue on three occasions and United can count themselves unfortunate not to have chalked up an 11th win of the campaign.

They'll hope that comes on Saturday when they travel to already relegated Dover Athletic.

A little over 10 minutes had elapsed before the Magpies first struck the woodwork when Kane Ferdinand saw his follow up effort to a Shaun Donnellan shot come back off the crossbar.

On loan goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore had to be alert to pull of an instinctive save from Rhys Browne but United hit the crossbar twice more in the second half with Barratt's free kick striking the angle of post and bar before a well worked move saw Remy Clerima bend an effort on goal which bounced back off the upright.

Speaking afterwards, Devonshire said: “Yeah. It was quite even in the first half but in the second, we’ve ended up hitting the bar or the post three times,

I think. We probably dominated the second half and should’ve won. But it is what it is, we take a point and move on. We still have a couple out (Dan Gyollai and Ryan Upward) but it’s nice to have the main squad back. It was nice for Sam (Barratt) to come back. It’s pleasing.

“He hit the bar twice. It was his first game for three-and-ahalf months I think so we had to look after him.

“He came off with cramp with about 15 minutes to go.

“He got 16 goals for us last year so, when you lose that, it hurts.”

The hard-earned point keeps the Magpies on course for survival, however, King's Lynn Town's surprise 1-0 win over Bromley means they're not mathematically safe yet, with the gap to the bottom three cut to 11 points.

“Until it’s mathematical, we’re not safe. We just need another couple of wins to make sure,” added Devonshire.

“It’s going to be a difficult game (at Dover Athletic), make no mistake.

“They’ve been getting some decent results. They drew with King’s Lynn Town, they beat Eastleigh, and have drawn some other big games.

“They will be playing with freedom and all that. We will just wait and see. Hopefully, we can go there and get the result we want.”