Salisbury left Eastbourne on Boxing Day with a well-earned point from a side knocking on the door of the play-off places.

The Whites were forced to defend for large spells against Eastbourne Borough, but Brian Dutton's side often caused their opponents problems on the break during an entertaining fixture on the south coast.

Both sides came into the fixture with unchanged starting 11s, having both won their previous fixtures, Salisbury winning at home against Welling and Eastbourne being victorious away at Weston-super-Mare.

Salisbury started well and created an early chance. Ronan Silva broke down the right and found Callum Watts on the edge of the box, but Joe Wright comfortably saved his low shot.

The home side had created some half chances, but their best early chance fell to Alfie Pavey, who was unable to stretch Dan Lincoln as he met a good ball in from Michael Klass in the 12th minute.

Salisbury's best chance of the first half came in the 16th minute. Noah Coppin picked out Ronan Silva 8-yards out, but Silva couldn't direct his header on target.

Dan Lincoln was called into his first serious action midway through the first half, getting a strong left hand up to stop Pavey's effort from 10 yards heading towards the back of the net.

Lincoln was called into action again in the 32nd minute when he positioned himself well to block George Alexander's effort after he was put through on goal.

Both sides had created chances at halftime but could not break the deadlock; Eastbourne came out strongly at the start of the second period.

Lincoln turned over a Pavey effort from distance in the first few minutes of the half, as the Salisbury stopper looked to be having one of those days where he was unbeatable.

It took just over an hour for Eastbourne to produce an effort that had the beating of Lincoln, but with the Salisbury keeper rooted to the spot, Klass saw his effort come back off the right-hand upright as the home side continued to be frustrated.

Salisbury were effective on the counter, with Coppin and Silva looking to break the offside line on a regular basis. Coppin managed to do so in the 63rd minute, tumbling under pressure from Wright as he approached the byline - the referee, Charles Martland, booked Coppin for simulation.

Lincoln made possibly his best save of the game in the 71st minute when he turned a powerful strike from Yahaya Bamba around the post.

Eastbourne peppered the Salisbury box with high balls, which, in the main, Sommerton, Carroll and Jombati dealt with fairly comfortably, and it was the visitors who produced the only chance of note in the dying minutes of the game.

Noah Coppin found some space on the left side of the penalty area, he pulled the ball across and found Ronan Silva on the edge of the 6-yard box. Silva tried to flick the ball beyond Wright but got too much on the ball, and it went the wrong side of the upright.

That was the last clear-cut chance of the game, and with neither side unable to break the deadlock, the game ended an entertaining but goalless draw.