THERE were no goals, but yesterday's 0-0 stalemate at third-placed Lincoln City was what Eastleigh manager Ronnie Moore termed “a proper match.”

With the two sides vying for National League promotion, ex-Tranmere, Rotherham and Hartlepool boss Moore said he could easily envisage both teams gracing the Football League.

“It reminded me of League Two football today,” he said.

“No one got the breakthrough, but both teams can play in League Two, no doubt about that.

“Not many teams are going to come to Lincoln and win.

“They’re a bit like us, they’re well organised and they’ve got good quality. That’s why we cancelled each other out today.

“We didn’t play as fluently as we’d have liked with the ball, but at least we defended when we had to.

“If you can’t win the game, the next best thing is don’t lose it. It was important for us to keep a clean sheet today and I think we’ll look back on this as a good point.”

Keeping that clean sheet was particularly pleasing considering the Spitfires went into the game without first-choice goalkeeper Ryan Clarke who had to return home for family reasons.

That put Ryan Huddart in the firing line at Sincil Bank and, although the young Arsenal loanee let nothing go by him, he owed a vote of thanks to defensive colossus Reda Johnson.

The closest third-placed Lincoln came to scoring was early in the second half when Huddart dropped a high ball and, with Nathan Arnold looking certain to score, Johnson saved the day with a goalline clearance.

Eastleigh could have nicked it at the death when Johnson headed the ball back across goal following a corner and, under pressure from Joe Partington, Lincoln's Luke Waterfall managed to head it to safety via the crossbar.

Right-back Partington said afterwards: “I challenged the guy and it’s come off his head. He’s done unbelievably well to head it onto the bar and away.

“Getting a point here and the one we got at (league leaders) Forest Green is important. We didn’t want to get beat today and have distance between us and them.”

Lincoln boss Danny Cowley said: “Eastleigh are a strong, experienced side, but I thought we enjoyed the lion’s share of possession.

“On another day we would, perhaps, have squeezed a 1-0 against a very good team.”

Moore's Spitfires have dropped to tenth, but they remain just three points behind Lincoln going into Tuesday's (7.45pm) home game against Torquay United.

There is, however, a nine-point gap between Eastleigh and top dogs Forest Green who maintained their momentum with a 3-0 home win over Guiseley.

Eastleigh: Ryan Huddart, Joe Partington, Michael Green, Jason Taylor, Reda Johnson, Ryan Cresswell, Luke Coulson, Andy Drury, Mikael Mandron (Jake Howells, 71), Ryan Bird (James Constable, 82), Jai Reason. Sub (not used) David Pipe, Adam Dawson, Jamie Cureton.

Referee: Tom Neild

Attendance: 3,180