Hinckley United 1 Redditch United 1

REDDITCH manager Rod Brown warned his players their futures were at stake ahead of this midweek trip to Leicestershire.

And his battle cry certainly seemed to have the desired effect as the Reds showed some of the passion and desire missing from their games so far this season.

The introduction of former Nuneaton midfielder Ian King certainly added something, while Daire Doyle worked tirelessly throughout.

But the star of the show was Matt Clarke. Proudly wearing the captain's armband once again, he led by example and was faultless as part of a back three alongside Gary Knight and Mark Creighton.

Redditch dominated from the first whistle and could have been 4-0 up within 20 minutes had it not been for home keeper Ryan Price.

He denied Doyle on six minutes and then blocked a close-range effort from Sean Flynn a minute later.

The breakthrough came on 16 minutes when King spotted Simon Hollis free on the right and floated an excellent pass to the winger, who took the ball past the keeper before firing home.

Three minutes later and Price produced yet another excellent stop when he dived full-length to push Danny Scheppel's 20-yard effort away from the top right corner.

Hinckley had been on the receiving end for so long and yet they managed to equalise with their first shot on target. Neil Cartwright's corner was not dealt with and Barry Woolley slid in for the 34th-minute leveller.

After the chances of the opening half, the second period was a stale affair. The Knitters went closest through Frenchman Laurent Cluzel, while Clarke and Hollis both made goalmouth clearances.

The final stages saw great opportunities for both sides to snatch victory. On 84 minutes, good work out on the right by Paul Moore resulted in a tantalising cross which evaded substitute Robbie Beard before Scheppel put his shot wide.

On the stroke of full-time, with Redditch down to 10 men after a clash of heads saw the visitors without Dennis Pearce for the final nine minutes, Jamie Lenton's quick free-kick had to be tipped over the bar by Reds keeper Lewis Solly.

Hinckley: PRICE, Cartwright, Lenton, Lavery, Plataneur, Woolley, Storer (Jackson 46), Shilton, Cluzel (Brown 69), Story (Lewis 69), Bonar. Subs (not used): Colkin, Haystead.

Redditch United: Solly 6, CLARKE 9, Flynn 7 (Jenkins 61, 6), Creighton 7 (Pearce 71), Knight 7, King 8, Hollis 6, Scheppel 6, Wilding 6 (Beard 75), Moore 6, Doyle 7. Subs (not used): Charlton.

Referee: Mr SG Cooke (Mansfield)