TERRY Brown kept his players in the dressing-room for an hour after the sterile goalless draw with struggling Bishop's Stortford on Saturday.

The normally urbane Aldershot manager had plenty to say to his players after a performance that earned boos from a section of the crowd at the Recreation Ground.

"We played 4-4-2 to get possession and width and that worked because we got 36 crosses into their box," said Brown. "Eight of those crosses were taken by the keeper at chest height. It was no test for him because our front two were very ineffective.

"There was no movement up front, no players getting in behind defenders, and I was left to wonder where a goal was going to come from.

"The only plus was that we kept a clean sheet, and it was quite a big plus because Bishop's Stortford played some good football."

Perversely, Aldershot increased their lead to six points with this dour draw because Purfleet came unstuck, losing 2-0 at Bedford.

Aldershot saw plenty of the ball in the first half, but Lee Charles and Stafford Browne were strangely ineffective up front and their only worthwhile goal effort came from skipper Paul Buckle whose header was tipped over by agile 'keeper Mick Desborough.

The Hertfordshire side had a couple of powerful attackers in Trevor Paul and Vinnie John. They were well contained by Dominic Sterling and Anthony Charles, although both forwards should have done better with close-range chances.

Brown had seen enough by half-time and sent on young Michael Harper for the disappointing Lee Charles.

But Bishop's Stortford had got the bit between their teeth and clearly fancied their chances of taking something from Shots' home fortress.

This was only Aldershot's second goalless draw of the season, the first being against Billericay, also at home, on November 9.

Aldershot reeled off four straight league wins after that results. A similarly positive response is required after this setback.

Aldershot: Howells, Hooper, Chewins (Nutter 64 mins), Sterling, A Charles, Buckle, Roddis, L Charles (Harper 45 mins), Browne (Gell 71 mins), D'Sane, Walshe. Subs (not used) Cousins, Holsgrove.

Attendance: 1,964.