Rovers U18s played out a goalless draw on the road as they took another point in Group C of the Professional Development League Cup at Lincoln City.
Chad Gribble’s side had the better of the goalscoring chances throughout the game but failed to punish the Imps defence as the end-to-end nature of the fixture took control.
The result sees Rovers sit top of Group C with four points, ahead of Barnsley on goal difference and with the prospect of qualifying for the next round still firmly in their hands.
Josh Lindley got play underway in Lincolnshire but despite a high tempo opening to the game from both sides, it took almost 15 minutes for the first half-chance to arise and it went Rovers way.
Attacker Tom Parkinson swung his corner over towards the back post where his side looked to have created an overload as if someone would inevitably put the ball in the goal but it somehow evaded everyone and went through for a goal kick as the chance went by.
The corner-kick taker would however find himself with another chance just moments later as he was presented with the opportunity to shoot at the target from the edge of the box but his shot lacked venom and was well held by the Imps’ keeper.
Both sides looked to break through each other’s backline but the defences stood firm with the most notable effort coming from Max Adamson with an acrobatic effort that stung the palms of the hosts’ number one before the linesman raised his flag for offside.
The bicycle kick would be the first year scholar’s last impact on the game however as he picked up an injury and forced Gribble to make his only change of the game, bringing on Owen Scattergood in his place.
Approaching the interval, Lincoln almost got the goal they themselves were looking for as a corner looped over Jake Oram only to be met by the head of Will Flint to clear off the line.
Rovers’ strike force of Jack Goodman and Scattergood also saw efforts narrowly fail to meet the target with one going just wide and then just over in the dying exchanges of the half.
The Imps got the second half underway in the sun and the tale of the game would continue but this time the hosts would take on the first chance of the half.
Just five minutes in, Lincoln came forward and managed to get a cross into the box where their number 10 was unmarked, ready and waiting to attack the ball but his headed effort could not be directed on target and went behind for a Rovers goal kick.
Each side was able to enjoy spells of possession as they looked for a breakthrough but rather than finding a goal, a chess-like game of football broke out as both the hosts and the visitors looked for areas to exploit.
With 25 minutes left on the clock, the referee decided to make use of his cards after Scattergood was tactically brought down by a defender who received a booking for his troubles.
From the resulting free-kick, the yellow card would soon appear again after captain Jak Whiting tried to pounce on the goalkeeper’s parried collection but the defender arrived a split second too late and conceded a foul to pick up his own caution.
The chances looked to be drying up in front of each goal but with five minutes to go, the game sparked into life again.
Lincoln forced a point-blank save out of Oram after an attacker turned well inside the box and took a shot on before Faris Khan went up the other end and aimed at goal from just outside the box but there wasn’t enough sting on the shot which left the Imps’ stopper with an easy task.
There was one last chance at the death for Khan from a free-kick with every player forward, but as the midfielder stepped up to deliver the ball, he miscalculated his cross and didn’t cause any late danger as the game came to a goalless close.
Rovers U18s will now focus their attentions on more cup football, this time in the EFL Youth Alliance Cup with Gribble’s side tasked with their second game of the competition at Port Vale on Saturday, October 15.