PHC 0

North Village 0

An optimistic Kyle Lightbourne believes he has reason to be cheerful following Zebras' cautious curtain raiser against North Village in the Martonmere Cup.

There may not have been much in the way of 'bums off seats' excitement, but Lightbourne was more than content to come away from BAA Field with a draw and clean sheet firmly in his grasp.

Clear-cut chances were at a premium for both sides that appeared to still be dusting off the pre-season cobwebs at times. But an unyielding display by Zebras' defence brought praise from Lightbourne whose team fell at the final hurdle in last year's competition.

"It's always pleasing not to lose your first match of the season, and I was delighted to keep a clean sheet," said the coach.

"Our defence kept their shape with North Village never really threatening our goal.

"We restricted them to half chances and I was very impressed with the likes of Omar Shakir, Kevin Richards and Corey Dowling.

"This result has given us something to build on and I was pleased with many aspects of our game.

"It was a good run out for us. Both teams seemed evenly matched and the draw was probably a fair result.

"I thought we just shaded the first-half and applied the most pressure in the game, but we couldn't create any clear cut chances."

"But we have a few attacking players to bring back, which will strengthen us and give me more options."

Ralph Bean, last season's golden boot winner, had the best opportunity of the game for the Rams, but headed just wide from Keith Jenning's cross early on.

A mazy dribble by Zebras' livewire attacker Cecoy Robinson then created space for Chris Furbert to try his luck from long range, with his curling effort flying just wide of Zane Hendrickson's right-hand post.

Furbert found his range from a free-kick though, that nearly outfoxed Hendrickson who was forced to parry the deflected strike to safety in an unorthodox fashion.

But Zebras almost grabbed victory when the impressive Shakir saw his stinging left-foot free-kick cannon off the woodwork.

North Village take on Dandy Town in the Martonmere Cup next Saturday at BAA Field. Kick-off is at 9 p.m.

PHC: R.Glasford, C.Dowling, O.Shakir, K.Richards, J.Ball, I.Barry, J.Sealey, C.Furbert, K.Lewis, R.Lightbourne, C Robinson. Substitutes: B.Bean, K.Lambe, M.Fubler, J.Franklin, G.Gibbons.

North Village: Z.Hendrickson, J.Boyles, Kofi Dill, D.Edwards, K.Dill, K.Jennings, S.Foster, V.Tankard, C.Trott, D.DeGraff, R.Bean. Substitutes: J.Simmons, R.Spence, J.Dill, D.Thomas.