John Smith's PNE fan panel thoughts: A Riverside result I didn't Mind at full-time

In my opinion, a point at The Riverside was definitely a ‘nice little earner’ and one for which I would have settled prior to kick-off, especially after my last two visits here had ended in disappointing 4-0 losses.

I must admit, I thought that a point seemed highly unlikely after the hosts – who had enjoyed the best of the game’s opening exchanges – finally punished our nervous-looking defence just before the quarter-hour.

The goal, which came from a simple ball over the top, was one I thought could have possibly been avoided and was a poor one for us to concede.

I also thought it illustrated the alarming lack of pace in our defensive back three.

This is something I feel must be rectified in the next transfer window by the addition of one or two defenders with some speed, otherwise I believe we will continue to leak more soft goals of a similar nature on a regular basis.

The home side should have been out of sight by half-time, having what I thought was a stonewall penalty appeal turned down.

On another day, it could also have resulted in our goalkeeper Freddie Woodman being sent off.

However, we kept on battling and fought back to equalise just before the break when Mads Frokjaer coolly finished off an accurate Brad Potts cross with our first shot on target.

This slightly unexpected goal sent our delighted travelling fans into raptures.

Our fans, who had backed their team vocally throughout the game, should also take credit for their enthusiastic manner and respect they showed in the applause held in honour of former Middlesbrough player Sol Bamba following his recent tragic death

In the second half, we looked far more effective going forward following the introduction of debutant Josh Bowler who replaced Jeppe Okkels at the interval.

Having said that though, we only had one further shot on target in the remainder of the game.

Our shots on target in five league matches so far this season now stands at just a paltry 12, which is something else I feel ‘Hecky and Stuart McCall’ will have to try and address if we are to make progress towards the top half of the table.

We seemed to defend much better in the second half and, at times, looked like we could even nick a goal on the counter-attack.

The introduction of Bowler had the crowd singing about him running down the wing, in a play on the lyrics of the ABBA song ‘Voulez Vous’.

His performance, as well as the one from Sam Greenwood – my man of the match – was a definite positive to take from this hard-earned point.

If the pair can continue this kind of form on a consistent basis, just like Arthur Daley used to say, maybe the ‘world could also be our lobster.’