Goalless draw extends unbeaten run for Gainsborough Trinity

A hard-fought goalless draw at Stafford Rangers saw the Holy Blues stretch their run to six without defeat at the weekend.Now head coach Tom Shaw is targeting three points when Northern Premier League rivals Atherton Collieries arrive in Lincolnshire on Saturday (KO 3pm).“Back on our patch where we'll have to have all these traits and characteristics to give ourselves a chance to win,” he said.“But we know what the pitch will be like and we'll have an opportunity to execute our style.“We're six unbeaten, in good form and the next challenge is to turn some of these draws into wins.“But we're getting there fitness wise.”Trinity's run has included draws with Staford, Ashton United, Buxton and Radcliffe plus wins against Lancaster City and Stalybridge Celtic.“Every away point for Gainsborough Trinity this season is huge,” Shaw added, praising his grafting squad.“We were well worth our point. We had a couple of interesting openings towards the end where you're hoping the lads can pick the final pass, but (we are) six unbeaten.“That unbeaten run for me has been based on the attitude and application (of the players), we've shown some behaviours and traits in the group that will help us pick points up along the way.“We've not been sparkling with the football (at Stafford) but you can't be on the surface.”Indeed, Shaw was full of praise for the way in which his young side adapted to the conditions against Rangers.He said: “We had to adapt our game, chase a few lost causes and played forward thinking and winning football. The second half was a really positive performance.“In the next few months we're going to go to a few pitches like this and we have to adapt and find a way of being in games and hopefully winning games.“Some of the performances give me real hope going into a period when the pitches get heavy and it's going to be tough going.“What we will never be is a team that just kicks it forward with no thought.“So what I was really pleased about second half was a calmness to our execution. It was never a kick, always a pass.”