Clipstone boss hails new grit and determination after draw at Shirebrook Town

Luke Manlove put Town ahead on 33 minutes in an incident which saw Cobras keeper Ryan Skidmore injure himself and be replaced by Lewis Warwick in goal.

Shirebrook doubled their lead just after the hour mark through Joe Harris.

But Clipstone showed great steel to rescue a point thanks to two goals from Charlie Dawes, who also missed a penalty, in the last 15 minutes.

“We conceded two sloppy goals but we've seen a side to this team that we are building,” said Hoole.

“We've not seen it for a while and that is grit and determination to roll our sleeves up in bad conditions.

“There won't be many teams who come here and dominate. We deservedly got back into the game.

“At 2-0 down we could easily have gone to bed and called it a day. The grit and determination was there for all to see, Charlie Dawes especially who missed a penalty and then got us back in the game. It is that type of footballer we want at this club.

“We need to be a bit stronger mentally but the experience we have got shone through and we got a deserved point, it could have been three.

“It was a lousy day and not an easy place to come at the best of times with what you will get from them.

“It was a bit of a game of two halves, we didn’t really turn up in the first half and they tried to play and pass the ball and deservedly got the early goal and a half-time lead.

“We were a lot better in the second half.”

And the Clipstone chief believes it will give his side further experience as they continue the rebuild at the club.

“We are a young side and we are getting more confident playing together,” he said.

“If you look at how the game has panned out, we have dominated the last 40 mins.

“We are working individually with certain players on finishing, on positions and how we create.This season is a building block for next season, we are still in transition.

“Last season was massive and this season is about moving forward for next season.”