BASHLEY boss Steve Riley was philosophical about only picking up a point in Warwickshire when they probably should have returned home with all three.

Chris Ferrett fired them in front direct from a 22nd-minute free kick that crept inside the post.

But, very much against the run of play, Akin Aladetoun broke from his own half and levelled shortly before half-time when he kept his cool to round goalkeeper David Elm before slotting home.

With Dave Wakefield pulling the strings in midfield, the New Forest outfit created a host of chances, but failed to put them away.

Jeremy Tarr went close twice in the first half, then again after the interval. Dave Town also tested Rugby keeper Martyn Margarson and Richard Gillespie could have scored as well.

It was a similar story after the break with Wakefield having a header cleared off the line by Rugby's David Staff, and Tarr and Riley were also thwarted.

Riley, who came on as an early substitute to replace injured Gary Middleton, said: "You would normally say a point is good on the road, but we could have had all three.

"We had the chances to kill them off, but we just didn't put them away.

"Dave dominated in midfield and it was just a good team performance for me.

"We created a lot of chances and came away with a draw. We have to be happy with that, although, without a doubt, we dominated the first half and probably should have had the game sewn up by half-time."

Riley, whose side stretched their unbeaten league run to 10 games, added: "I set a target of five points from three matches including this one.

"That is one point and we'll be looking to get the other four at Brackley tomorrow and at home to Tiverton on Saturday."

Brackley are fourth in the table, two points in front of Bash, who have 21 alongside Rugby, while Tiverton are in mid-table.

Riley's side, six points behind leaders Hemel Hempstead with two games in hand, are clearly title, not just play-off, contenders, although you won't hear the player-manager saying that at the moment.

He said: "We would have snapped their hand off if someone had said before the season we would go 10 league games unbeaten this early in the season.

"But we're doing the two things we did so well to get promoted. We're defending well so we're hard to beat and we're creating chances.

"We're going well and we just have to keep doing what we are doing."

Middleton, returning after a month out with a knee problem, aggravated the injury in the second minute and had to go off, with the veteran Riley plugging the gap.

Bashley: Elm, Hill, Ferrett, Castle, Middleton (Riley, 2), Keeping, Tarr (Moss, 80), Davis, Town, Gillespie, Wakefield. Unused subs: Harper, Blackmore, Keeler.