Harpenden Town grabbed a point in a goalless draw at Bush Hill Rangers on Saturday.

The result hid the drama of a tense game in which Town missed a penalty and had the better of the first half while massive sustained pressure from Rangers in the second half saw them hit the crossbar three times but fail to beat the Harpenden goalkeeper Jake McLean.

Both teams struggled with the difficult conditions with a fierce wind making long passes a lottery and the rock hard pitch saw the ball bounce wildly.

Head coach Pete Waller said: “The conditions were bad and the home team knew how to play in them especially in the second half.

“Our heads went down after the missed penalty and we couldn’t dominate but fair play to Bush Hill, they hit the crossbar three times and we are happy to come away with a point.”

Harpenden Town had the best of the first half and after 41 minutes a Nick Elliot free-kick rebounded into the path of Ryan Plowright who was faced with an open goal but the ball bounced high over the net on the unforgiving surface.

Early in the second half Mark Hitchcock was pushed down in the box for a penalty but the Rangers goalkeeper saved David Keenleyside’s shot down to his left.

The last quarter of the match was all Rangers and they hit the crossbar twice. McLean pulled off several diving saves to keep a hard won clean sheet.

Harpenden are away to Amersham Town on Saturday in the last match of the season and are currently sixth in SSML Division One.