Ten-man Hemel Hempstead are praised by boss Mark Jones after stalemate

The Tudors played most of the game with ten men following debutant Harris O’Connor’s straight red card on 16 minutes, but were able to keep the hosts out and earn a point that although not enough to move them out of the bottom four, ended a run of four straight defeats.

And Jones was satisfied with a draw, though not in agreement with the decision to send O’Connor off.

He said: “I thought we battled very well given we were down to ten men for about 80 minutes after what I thought was a harsh sending off.

"I don’t think we’re getting the rub of the green with decisions at the moment – last week we should have had a stonewall penalty in the first-half against Dartford – but it’s a rock hard pitch, the ball is bouncing, Harris has made a genuine attempt to go for the ball but the lad’s put his head in and it was so unlucky.

"The referee needs to be 100 per cent sure to send people off and I think sometimes they’re too quick to get the cards out and make rash decisions – it wasn’t a malicious challenge and he wasn’t trying to hurt the lad.

"So for us to battle and to keep a clean sheet I think we have to respect that and be reasonably pleased. There’s always things you can work on and we did have two or three great opportunities on counter attacks but decision-making at the end was a little bit disappointing.

"But the attitude of the players was excellent, they battled so hard and whilst we would have liked to have won the game, under the circumstances I think we have to be pleased with the effort from the players and I think the fans saw that.

"I thank them for their support. I know we haven’t given them much to cheer about in the last three weeks or but I appreciate their support as they came down in good numbers for a long trip.”

Hemel now prepare to return home this weekend to face another side in the relegation zone, Cheshunt, who have just one win to their name so far and six defeats in a row behind them.

Meanwhile, Hemel have been drawn at home to fellow Hertfordshire side Royston, of the SPL Premier Central, in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup on Saturday, September 17.