YORK City fought out a stale 0-0 draw with Exeter at Bootham Crescent.

The hosts’ best chances fell to Wes Fletcher, who forced a near-post save from visiting keeper James Hamon and headed over from a Marvin McCoy cross after the break.

But Russ Wilcox’s men never really did enough to merit maximum points against an Exeter team who are now without a win in seven matches. A cagey opening saw neither side muster a shot until the 17th minute when Bobby Olejnik made a double save to deny Liam Sercombe and Clinton Morrison before Alex Nicholls’ firm 12-yard drive was kicked off the line by an alert Stephane Zubar.

That scare roused City into action with Diego De Girolamo sidefooting narrowly wide from the edge of the box after a positive burst down the left by Josh Carson.

Fletcher also called Grecians keeper James Hamon into action at his near post after De Girolamo had slid a pass through the right channel.

At the other end, meanwhile, Ryan Harley fired straight at Olejnik from distance and, after De Girolamo had blazed over from a short Carson free kick, Liam Sercombe’s ambitious 40-yard effort sailed just over a vacated home net following a poor clearance by the City keeper. After the restart, Russell Penn saw an early 20-yard shot saved, while Fletcher headed over from a Marvin McCoy cross just past the hour. Carson also flashed a diagonal right-footed attempt over while Sercombe shot wide from 25 yards on 82 minutes with the visitors’ first and only chance of the second period.

The last opportunities of the match then saw McCoy and Michael Coulson lift long-distance efforts over in stoppage time.

City: Olejnik; McCoy, Lowe, Zubar, Benning; Penn, Halliday; Coulson, De Girolamo (Sinclair, 68), Carson (Meikle, 84); Fletcher. Subs not used: Platt, Ingham, Montrose, Ilesanmi, McCombe.

Exeter: Hamon; Davies, Riberio, Moore-Taylor, McAllister; Sercombe, Butterfield, Harley; Nicholls (Keohane, 72); Nichols, Morrison (Wheeler, 72). Subs not used: Bennett, Tillson, Pym, Cummins, McCready. Referee: Seb Stockbridge (Gateshead) Attendance: 3,209 (227 away)