One can say without too much fear of contradiction that the introduction of Craig Etherington from the substitutes' bench was the right move on Colin McBride's part.

A somewhat lifeless Purfleet were trailing to a Sutton side which languishes in the bottom half of the table when the former West Ham player came on just after the hour - and we didn't have to wait long for him to make a difference.

His first touch helped produce a corner and from it and with his second contact with the ball Etherington smashed in a 25-yarder for his first goal for the club.

It was probably asking too much for Etherington to continue his magic touch and so Fleet had to settled for yet another draw on Saturday.

Since the arrival of McBride they've become the Premier League's draw specialists and already this term have shared the points in seven of their 15 games.

It's not difficult to see why. Everyone knows that Purfleet are well organised defensively and have a proud work ethic, problem at the moment is that up front they're not causing too much to happen.

Fleet, though, remain in the top ten of the division, but you feel need a match-fit and focused Colin Simpson back in the fold if they are to remain so.

News on Simpson is that even though his suspension is completed, injury may keep him out of the trip to Chesham on Saturday. He has a back problem and has been receiving treatment at Barnet.

Another worry is that after a very bright start to his career at the Hotel, Paul Linger has not been as impressive in midfield and a lot of that is probably due to the absence of Martin Ling.

Unfortunately there's little chance now of the pair playing together since Ling's appointment last week as one of the assistant managers to Paul Brush at Leyton Orient.

One could have done with Ling's ability to play the penetrating pass to enliven this match.

Almost devoid of scoring opportunities in the opening period, Sutton were to be gifted a 27th-minute lead.

Gary Howard, under pressure, sent back a 40 yards pass to Alex O'Reilly which caught him slightly unawares. He did manage to hack the ball clear but a richochet off Rob Haworth deflected the ball straight to Eddie Akuamoah who couldn't miss.

Steve Pashley, who in recent games has become something of a threat when he gets in the box , hit the woodwork with goalkeeper Chuck Martini beaten all ends up. Unfortunately Keith Martin blasted the rebound well over the crossbar.

The second half did produce better entertainment. O'Reilly after his jittery display in the FA Cup replay at Grays, was back to his assured self and made a quite excellent save to keep Fleet in the game when denying Sam Keevill from a Jon Palmer cross.

That the home side were to go on and collect a point from the contest was only correct, as Sutton never managed any concerted periods of pressure.

But Purfleet need a few more wins. They've won only one of their last eight league games and dropped some 11 points behind Grays who are in fourth place.

Good news, though, for Fleet in that Jon Keeling, who hasn't played since hobbling out of the home tie against Grays with a hamstring problem, is in the squad for Saturday.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.