Wingate & Finchley battled to their first Isthmian League Premier Division point of 2020 after a stalemate at Hayes Lane.

Having lost 2-1 to Haringey Borough in their New Year's Day derby, the Blues saw Henry Ochieng drag an early shot across goal after bursting into the home side's box.

Bilal Sayoud stung the palms of Lewis Carey, who pushed the ball behind for a corner, with Richard Platt tackled just as he was about to shoot from the set-piece.

Kane Farrell curled a shot from the edge of the box just over the crossbar on 11 minutes, before Platt blocked Joseph Taylor's effort after he had rounded Shane Gore, who then held onto a follow-up attempt.

Oluwaseun Akinsanya was off-target with a pair of efforts, before Gore made a smart save to deny Bradley Pritchard on 23 minutes.

Ochieng had a shot well blocked by Mitchell Nelson, after Ahmet Rifat's superb tackle had set Alphanso Kennedy free to create the chance, and Kennedy had a shot saved at the near post after another breakaway.

Wingate continued to press after the restart, with Johnville Renee meeting a low Sayoud cross and seeing his shot deflected into the legs of Carey.

Olumide Oluwatimilehin then dragged a shot inches wide from the edge of the box on 55 minutes, before Cray's Ben Mundele pulled his attempt across the face of Gore's goal.

Gore held on at his near post to keep out Jack Rollinson's shot from a tight angle on 70 minutes, before opposite number Carey produced a similar stop to thwart Akinsanya when he broke the offside trap at the other end.

Blues substitute Charlie Ruff hit a dipping shot from outside the box which Carey palmed behind four minutes from time, with Sean Grace seeing a header from the resulting corner parried clear by the home keeper.

Then, with normal time up, Luke Ifil got his toe to a through ball only to poke a chip over the crossbar, while Gore pushed away a left-footed shot from Tom Murphy as the scoreline remained blank and Blues banked a vital point against play-off hopefuls.

Wingate: Gore, Platt, Darrell, Rifat (Ifil 72), Grace, Njie, Kennedy (Oluwatimilehin 46), Ochieng, Akinsanya, Renee, Sayoud (Ruff 82). Unused subs: Read, O'Keefe.

Attendance: 144.