Nnamdi, McLaren, McVeigh (Roseburgh), Street, Shaw (Tan), Townsend, Binns, Stienebrunner, Naidu, Loney, Martin (Leci).

Generally speaking, there's not much you can say about a 0-0 draw. This one however had one or two subplots, provided by two teams with depleted resources, on a bone-hard pitch, in furnace-like conditions.

Despite these factors, the two sides put on a decent display of football, with the Germans shading the first half in terms of possession and chances created, and the Hotspurs by far the stronger of the two teams in the second – although this was, ironically, when the GAS fashioned, and spurned, the best chance of the match.

With one or two new faces, and a couple of regulars playing in unaccustomed roles, the Hotspurs’ first half performance was, not surprisingly, a little lacking in cohesion. We certainly got our act together in the second period, and laid siege to the GAS goal in the closing 20 minutes, but to no avail.

A combination of wasted opportunities and some defiant GAS defending (one spectacular goal-line clearance off the face of a GAS player leaps to mind – typical of the determination and commitment being put in by both sides) kept the Hotspurs at bay, although on the basis of statistical probability, Hotspurs must have felt that one of the three strong penalty claims would have been given.

In the circumstances, a draw and a second clean sheet on the bounce is not a bad result, but there was clear frustration from a Hotspurs side that finished the game strongly, had put in a fantastic effort in difficult circumstances, and possibly felt that it deserved all the points.

Performances of note: Tony in goal for a couple of excellent long-range saves; Jamie for never stopping running….again; Ally L for leading the line with commitment (when he wasn’t deployed at centre back)’; Paul M for recovering from exhaustion at half-time to develop and make the most of a third wind; Brian on debut for an assured performance at the back; Chris and Berry for working tirelessly and keeping the GAS at bay; Jimmy for sticking to his task manfully, and getting forward whenever he thought no one was looking; David for playing through the pain of a stomach problem that threatened to get very messy; and Jorg who ruled the midfield roost and distributed superbly. The only starter not to get a mention is Anis who felt he had a bad game and didn’t enjoy himself, so he doesn’t get a mention….doh!

Jack came on and showed enough spirit to get himself booked – just what we needed in the circumstances…seriously, and it was great to see Ali R back in a Hotspurs’ shirt after a lengthy layoff through injury. “I’m going to take it easy…” he said on the touchline before being introduced to the game. 30 seconds later he was launching himself into a 50-50 challenge with reckless abandon. Kids….what are you going to do? Excellent stuff.

Thanks to the GAS for a good game played in a very good spirit. The press always bills our encounters as battles between arch rivals, but they’re going to have to think of something else to add a little spice to this fixture in the future. It seems we quite like each other really.

Apart from the three turned down penalty appeals (two of which, I’m sorry, were ‘nailed on’) the ref had a pretty good game, but then, this was not a difficult one to officiate.