Goalless draws are not usually particularly appealing but Hadleigh boss Steve Holder was quietly satisfied after second placed Mildenhall failed to break down his side at Millfield.

Truth be told, the Brettsiders could have nicked all three points had their finishing in the second half had been as good as their defending throughout, from front men to back line.

A point though was enough to nudge Hadleigh up to sixth bottom ahead of Brantham, whose game at former leaders Wroxham was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, and Holder took plenty from the performance, especially against one of his former teams.

"We had chances to win it towards the end there but more more important for me was the clean sheet," said Holder. "It was the first time I had my team back and you could see that with a bit of depth on the bench I could make some good changes.

"We have quality in this dressing room and if we can show consistency going forward we will pick up plenty of points. Not many teams will take points off Mildenhall and as they are an old team of mine it was especially pleasing for me to be able to do that."

After a disrupted first half of the season Holder is quietly confident going forward.

He said: "The table is a bit false as we have not played that much and we have games in hand, including the bottom two and those around us.

"The top five are in a league of their own now and we are competing within a group around us and it us up to us to go on a run into the new year and pick up the points."

Two key elements for Hadleigh was skipper Matty Paine back in the heart of the defence, while new signing James Lee from Brantham was strong in midfield and the whole team showed determination and character to keep the clean sheet, and even threw in some decent passing at times to work the ball out wide.

"We perhaps rode our luck a bit at Walsham last Monday," said Holder. "But all I asked today was we defended our goal and we did that with a couple off the line and good blocks. So to be unbeaten in the new year against two very good sides, and with two points, I will take that."

With Kade Ivatt, Jake Eady and Harry Brown also on the cusp of returning, Holder "With everyone back we have competition for places and we are now in a better place.

"When you have a so many people out with Covid and injuries it is difficult, especially playing people out of position, but we had the personnel back and it showed."

Holder admitted he was delighted to snap up Lee in a lightning quick switch from their close rivals.

"I didn't see it coming really," said Holder. "We had a message he could be available, he trained with us, liked what he saw and what we were doing and see is good addition to the squad."

Hadleigh entertain March Town next Saturday in a rearranged fixture.