ANDY KING felt Town deserved more for their first-half display than a blank score sheet.

An inability to finish off chances meant both sides went in level, with the home side well on top.

But those missed chances meant King had to settle for just a point rather than all three at full time.

He said: "In the first-half, they played ever so well.

"They knocked the ball around and won the second balls.

"It was as good as I've seen Bobby Howe play and Steve Robinson was back to his best.

"We didn't quite get it right up front, although I decided to be brave and go with three attackers.

"The back three were superb and I thought we defended very, very well.

"I don't think Bournemouth had a real chance in the first-half. It's just a shame that we couldn't get the goal we deserved.

"But at the end of the day we got a nil-nil draw with nine men."

King did not want to get drawn into the rights or wrongs of the decisions to red card Gurney and Grazioli.

He said: "The lads said Gurns' tried to pull out of the second challenge and that all Graz did was to put his hands up to protect himself from one of their lads.

"But it wasn't a game where you should have had three sent off. It wasn't a dirty or malicious game by any stretch of the imagination.

"But I don't want to get into a situation where I'm on about match officials again. There was enough of that the last time I managed this football club."

However, despite the sense of disappointment around the ground, King felt the players had performed much better than their showing at Notts County on Friday night.

He said: "It was 100 per cent better than at Notts County.

"There was 100 per cent more commitment and the quality of football was 100 per cent better."

Midfielder Steve Robinson thought the number of red and yellow cards bandied about by the referee had been 'ridiculous'.

But he said it was important to focus on the positives from the game.

He said: "I thought we did well in the first half. We were first to everything and we really battered them. I think it was just a question of when we were going to score.

"If we'd got that first goal I'm sure we'd have gone on to win by two or three but it just didn't come.

"You get games like that and I suppose it just wasn't meant to be."

The midfielder said the players had detected the County Ground crowd was a bit flat but that had not dented their resolve to continue the quest for improvement.

He said: "The lads are all working hard and now's lets focus on three points against Bury."

It was another blank afternoon for striker Eric Sabin but the smiling Frenchman refused to take a pessimistic view of proceedings.

He said: "I suppose it was a bit strange seeing the manager who signed me suddenly come back.

"But at least he knows the players and that has to be a help.

"As for the match, we were confident we could score but it did not happen.

"Maybe we need to be a bit cleverer, a bit more creative and the goals will come for us.

"People can talk about the referee but I think we must forget him, forget this match and move on to the next one."

Skipper Alan Reeves preferred to dwell on a clean sheet rather than a lack of goals at the other end.

The 34-year-old was restored to the side after two months out with a knee injury.

He said: "We needed to nick a goal with all the pressure we had but at the same time it was important to keep it tight at the back, which we did."