Scunthorpe extended their unbeaten run at home to six games in a highly charged goalless derby with Lincoln City.
Iron boss Brian Laws said: "We expected a tough game and at times it was ugly, it was not my way, I like to play football.
"They work hard. In a stop start game where we had to show a lot of patience." The Imps Keith Alexander commented: "The point was well deserved. I thought we had the better chances in the second half and especially in the last 20 minutes.†Stuart Bimson and Ben Futcher played vital defensive roles in City's performance and Chris Ward was always a threat with his darting forward runs at the heart of the Scunthorpe rearguard.
The Iron failed to sparkle in the first half, Peter Beagrie took an early knock which limited his skills and much relied on the tenacity of Matt Sparrow in midfield.
Scunthorpe were first to show and a long ball by Mark Jackson saw Paul Hayes fire high and wide of the mark and when City responded Ward was off target.
Bimson then made ground on the left to get in an accurate cross which Paul Smith headed wide.
The home side struck back and almost snatched a 15th minute lead but Bimson came in to clear a Sparrow shot off the line.
The game was lacking any real impetus. City were under pressure but they appeared well able to deal with what was thrown at them.
Beagrie and Martin Carruthers fired over for Scunthorpe, while Bimson and Smith repeated the dose at the other end.
Scunthorpe wasted a good opportunity in the early stages of the second half when Sparrow was brought down on the edge of the box. A free kick move between Andy Dawson and Beagrie broke down.
The home side were again in the ascendancy and when keeper Alan Marriott was beaten by Sparrow a goal looked imminent, but Futcher came in with a tackle which eventually allowed the keeper to recover.
There was a similar incident at the other end when a shot from Peter Gain was fumbled by Tommy Evans but Jackson cleared off the line.
In the closing stages Jackson came in again to clear from substitute Alan Pearce and in the last minute Paul Smith was denied by Evans.
HASH(0x8b9f31c)