SAUCHIE Juniors and St Andrews United drew blanks as the points were shared.
The action started long before kick-off, with high winds and heavy rainfall the night before, putting the game itself into jeopardy, but a pitch inspection deemed the Beechwood Park surface playable.
There were three changes from the side’s last outing three weeks ago, with Sean Robertson returning between the sticks, Connor Willaghan and Tom Harrison also joining the defensive line.
Opening chances came within the first few minutes for both teams, firstly Lewis Craik for the visitors shooting wayward with his opportunity from far out.
Finn Malcolm then for the hosts, saw his effort tipped over the bar by Saints goalkeeper Logan Halliday, the resulting corner not troubling.
Malcolm’s strike partner Ross Kavanagh had chances of his own, a break from a corner only to be denied by Halliday and then a shot over the bar at a closer range.
Josh Gemmell would be on the receiving end of two identical challenges inside the box, the referee not entertaining either, waving away the penalty calls as the loanee was booked for simulation.
Fraser Duncan told Advertiser Sport: “I think the first one, you’d be disappointed if that’s given against you, it didn’t look like a lot of contact.
"Certainly the second one is, Josh told us there is contact, and I truly believe that.”
St Andrews’ Michael Ness would be at the focal point of their attacks, but there would be no final product following a successful cross.
Kavanagh would be back on the attack moments into the second 45 to search for the opener, a chance in which he saw whistle past the near post.
Paul Simpson had a free-kick opportunity, crossing into the box intended for the towering Jack Thomson, but Halliday was there first to gather with ease.
A notable battle came between Harrison and former Sauchie player Lewis Payne, the striker unable to threaten due to some excellent defending from the young left-back.
Duncan was full of praise for the youngster making his 11th appearance for the first team.
He continued: “Tom did well, he’s one of our under-20s that we’ve decided to take up to the first team for the next few months.
"He’s been excellent this season, and I really hope that he keeps it going.”
The visiting pressure came from headed efforts by Kyle Sneddon and Freddie Rowe, both following corners into the box, to which shot-stopper Robertson got down to push wide of danger.
Simpson had the final effort of the game, a chance distance heading out of play before the referee called time on the contest with the score all even.
The Sauchie manager spoke of his disappointment at not taking the three points, “Disappointing from our side, we had chances to go win the game, but so did St. Andrews.
"On reflection, disappointed not to be taking our chances, we’ve got to start taking them.”
“The only real positive from the game was keeping the clean sheet.
"We looked like a team that hadn’t played for three weeks, obviously with no games, and you could tell that.
"We struggled to get into the game and we’ve been working hard, so we need to now work to rectify that.”
Looking to make amends, Saturday sees Sauchie Juniors travel through to Midlothian and to Montgomery Park, taking on Penicuik Athletic in a 2:30 pm kick-off.
Sauchie Juniors: Robertson, Willaghan, Harrison (McDowell 77’), Sc. Davidson, Thomson, Simpson, Caves, Kavanagh, Griffiths (Sa. Davidson 63’), Gemmell, Malcolm (Morgan 63’)
Substitutes not used: Collumbine, Smith, Burt.
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