Tomlinson era starts with a point for Shirebrook Town
Shirebrook Town started a new era with a 1-1 draw against Wisbech Town.
Shirebrook Town were back in action for the first time under new manager Joe Tomlinson on Saturday afternoon as they welcomed Wisbech Town to the WH Davis Stadium.
And with plenty of new faces on show they were eager to impress but it was keeper Charlie Preston who was called upon in the 12th minute when Luke Harris cross found Sam Bennett who headed towards goal but Preston produced a fantastic save to claw the ball away for a corner but Shirebrook were soon starting to get some chances of their own with Ryan Watters and Jack Dolman both having shots at goal.
The deadlock was broken in the 26th minute when Shirebrook were awarded a penalty after the referee spotted a handball. Jack Dolman stepped up to take the spot kick and sent the Wisbech keeper the wrong way as he cooly despatched the penalty to give Shirebrook the lead.
Shirebrook were soon back on the attack as they went in search of a second goal with Tom McNally firing over from close range and Lewis Price trying his luck from just outside the box but Shirebrook were unable to add to the scoreline before the break as they went in with a narrow lead at half time.
As the second half got underway it was another strong start from Shirebrook with Ryan Watters firing over in the early minutes of the half however Wisbech began to get on top and Shirebrook keeper Charlie Preston was called into action to keep out Amir Ward effort.
In the 57th minute Wisbech levelled the score when Kyle Barker swung in a corner that found the head of Kern Miller who headed past Charlie Preston to bring the visitors level with plenty of time left for both sides to try and find a winner. Both sides threw everything at each other to try and get that winner, with the best Shirebrook chance falling to sub Callam Lytham who headed over from inside the box but neither side could find a goal and had to settle for a point.
After the game Shirebrook manager Joe Tomlinson said: "I suppose a point isn’t too bad I thought the first half performance was really positive but second half we conceded from a corner which was annoying but in terms of work rate and desire.
"I thought we were very good I thought we did more than enough to win the game over the 90 minutes and if we can continue that in the next 6 games I’m sure we will pick up some wins.”