Dereham Town picked up their first point of the new campaign by claiming a very creditable draw in Essex.

The Magpies have finished seventh in both of their Ryman North campaigns following promotion but knew they'd be up against it when they travelled to face the Essex Senior League champions – who went up by winning the league last season.

And they showed why they have proved to be a force at Step Four of the non-league ladder by shutting out a goal-hungry Borough outfit for 90 minutes.

Haringey failed to hit the net in just three of their 38 matches last season and scored a huge 129 goals on the way to pipping Bowers & Pitsea to the title. A massive 76 of those goals came on their own turf where the Step Five title-winners only lost one match.

But they didn't have enough for Matt Henman's men – although they did carve out a host of opportunities and strike the woodwork on more than one occasion – who headed back to Norfolk with a share of the spoils.

Dereham starting XI: Wilton, Frary, Wallace, Sturman, Howard, Morphew, Logan, Borrer, Crisp, Tuttle, Blake-Tracy