TRAFFORD were held to a disappointing goalless draw at Widnes on Saturday but nevertheless remain in second place in the BetVictor North West Division.

Despite the fact they had not tasted victory for eight games, the hosts started confidently and after just four minutes a fine move down their left ended with Shaun Holden crossing hard and low and leading goalscorer Ben Hodgkinson firing over from close range.

Both defences were generally on top, however, and neither goalkeeper was troubled until the 34th minute when Trafford’s Matty Cooper left his area and missed the ball, but he saw Hodgkinson fire wide from a tight angle.

Two minutes later home keeper Aiden Stone blocked a Curtis Miller effort before saving a Lewis Walters free kick at his near post, Darius Palma blasting the rebound well over.

The second half began with Trafford left-back Sam Grimshaw cracking a stunning volley from 25 yards inches wide and substitute Tom Schofield firing a free kick just over the bar.

Laurence Taylor curled an effort inches past the upright, while at the other end Widnes substitute Owen Wheeler ended a jinking run with a shot straight at Cooper.

Cooper then tipped a deep cross by Rhain Hellawell over the bar and as Trafford failed to clear the resulting corner, Holden fired over from the edge of the penalty area.

In the 86th minute Trafford wasted a glorious opportunity to snatch all three points when Grimshaw raced down the left flank and crossed for the unmarked Lewis Salmon to shoot first time from eight yards only to be denied by a fine reflex save by Stone.

Just a minute later Salmon shot straight at Stone from the right and in the dying seconds Lewis Walters blazed his shot high and wide as Trafford desperately sought the winner.

It ended in stalemate and for the second successive week Trafford were forced to share the spoils.

They will be looking to get back to winning ways on Saturday when they travel to play Runcorn Linnets, kick off 3pm.