Hebburn Town boss Scott Oliver believes a draw was a fair result as he saw his side held by Billingham Town at the weekend.
The Hornets are struggling at the wrong end of the table after a difficult start to their Northern League Division Two campaign after last season’s near-miss at promotion.
And Oliver has admitted his side are in a ‘scrap’ as they try to claw their way back up the standings.
Billingham started brightly and took the lead with a header from Chris Dickinson amid poor marking from the Hebburn defence.
But Hebburn went close to an equaliser when Chris Smith headed against the crossbar from a Lee McMahon centre.
Man of the match Gary Rogers rolled back the years with a number of great stops to keep his side in the game as Hebburn struggled to cope with the movement of the Billingham attackers.
But after Oliver gave Hebburn a blasting at half-time, they came roaring out of the changing room for the second half and Channon North headed them level in the 48th minute from a James Talbot cross.
Hebburn missed chances to win the game when North and Glen Hargrave squandered one-on-ones, but Billingham could have clinched all three points themselves, missing a glorious opportunity in injury time.
Oliver said: “A draw was a fair result.
“We are in a scrap at the bottom but we are slowly improving, though confidence is still low.”