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LEICESTER CITY REPORTS 2002-2003
Picture Peter Handyside holds off Paul Dickov.

Leicester 0 Stoke 0 Click here for full match stats!

Leicester City's hopes of catching Nationwide One leaders Portsmouth suffered a blow as they were held to a goalless draw by Stoke at the Walkers Stadium.

Both sides finished with 10 men after Stoke's Peter Handyside and the Foxes' Gerry Taggart both saw red for two bookings in the second half.

Stoke settled into the contest the quicker, and could count themselves unlucky not to have a half-time lead after enjoying the better of a scrappy opening period

Potters midfielder James O'Connor had the game's first opportunity, but his 30-yard strike went just over the bar.

Nicky Summerbee responded for the home side, and the Stoke defence had to be sharp to clear his succession of dangerous crosses.

It was from a Summerbee cross that Leicester had their first chance.

His 20th-minute inswinging corner fell to youngster Jordan Stewart. But he mis-hit his shot, and the ball went harmlessly wide.

Foxes goalkeeper Ian Walker then had to be alert to stop Frazer Richardson and Sergey Shtanuk's long-range efforts as the Potters looked to make a breakthrough.

On the half-hour mark the visitors had a great chance to do so, but Gunnarsson fired straight at Walker from inside the area.

The former England stopper had to be on form five minutes later to tip over a powerful 30-yard shot from Richardson.

Stoke continued to do all the pressing, and Walker made his third good save of the half when he held another Gunnarsson shot from just outside the box.

O'Connor and Chris Greenacre both went close just before the break, but the visitors could not find the goal their overall play deserved.

Leicester immediately went close after the restart when Brian Deane headed over from a Summerbee corner.

Taggart then did exactly the same from an inswinging Alan Rogers corner, before Paul Dickov fired wide from just inside the box on 56.

The lively Summerbee then saw his right-foot volley go just over the bar as Leicester turned the screw.

Deane again went close with his head after 66 minutes remaining, and their bid was helped two minutes when the away side were reduced to 10 men.

Handyside saw red after his foul on Paul Dickov earned him a second booking from referee Paul Robinson.

But their numerical advantage lasted less than two minutes as Taggart picked up his second yellow card, leaving both side's with 10 men.

Leicester continued to press on, and Matthew Jones should have done better when he drilled past the right-hand post with 10 minutes remaining.

Marc Goodfellow almost stole the points for Stoke late on, but he twice fired wide from inside the penalty area with Walker beaten.

Teams

Leicester: Walker, Impey, Elliott, Sinclair, Rogers, Summerbee (Benjamin 66), McKinlay, Jones, Stewart (Taggart 45), Dickov, Deane.

Subs Not Used: Stevenson, Heath, Flowers.

Sent Off: Taggart (72).

Booked: Taggart, Jones.

Stoke: Banks, Thomas, Handyside, Shtanuk, Richardson, Gunnarsson, O'Connor, Hoekstra (Marteinsson 76), Marcus Hall, Iwelumo, Greenacre (Goodfellow 81).

Subs Not Used: Cutler, Gudjonsson, Henry.

Sent Off: Handyside (68).

Booked: Handyside, O'Connor, Marteinsson.

Att: 25,038

Ref: J P Robinson (E Yorkshire).

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