The Blues and Cheltenham remain locked at 0-0 at half-time at Whaddon Road.
Town made one enforced change from Friday’s 4—0 home victory over Wycombe with Marcus Harness coming in for Nathan Broadhead, who suffered a knock to the ankle he twisted after being tackled from behind at Derby during the game against the Chairboys.
The Robins made three changes from the team which lost 2-0 at Lincoln on Friday with Lewis Freestone, Will Goodwin and Elliot Bonds coming into the team for Caleb Taylor, Aidan Keena and Glen Rea, who all dropped to the bench alongside one-time Blues youngster Charlie Brown.
In windy conditions, the Blues started on the front foot and went close to going in front in the sixth minute, Harness playing in Harry Clarke on the right of the box but the former Arsenal man’s cross was just beyond George Hirst and the ball was nodded behind Ryan Broom.
From the resultant corner, Clarke looped a header over, off a defender the Town fans behind the goal claimed, but referee Sebastian Stockbridge felt otherwise.
Moments later, Tom Bradbury became the first player to get his name in Stockbridge’s book for holding on to Hirst’s shirt even after the official had blown his whistle. In the aftermath of the free-kick, skipper Sam Morsy hit a low shot through to home keeper Luke Southwood.
In the ninth minute Cheltenham manager Wade Elliott joined his player in the book for continuing his protests regarding Bradbury’s caution.
Two minutes later, Christian Walton was forced into his first save of the game, diving down to his right to save Freestone’s header from Liam Sercombe’s right-sided corner.
On 16, with the Blues having been a little disjointed with the wind having an impact, Burns burst away on the right before hitting a low shot which failed to trouble Southwood.
Three minutes later, Town created their first real opening. Hirst laid the ball off to Conor Chaplin on the edge of the box and the Blues’ 21-goal top scorer back-heeled it into the path of Harness, who scraped his shot well wide when he will feel he should have done better.
In the 20th minute, Burns was sent away on the right and cut across, probably towards Hirst, but Chaplin awkwardly shot well over.
There was a big scare for the Blues in the 23rd minute when James Olayinka found his way past a number of Town players and into the area before finding Alfie May, March’s League One Player of the Month, on the left of the box from where he sent across a low ball which just went past the far post with no one able to add the final touch and end the Blues’ lengthy spell without conceding. Moments later, May smashed a low 30-yard free-kick well wide.
After a controversial incident in the Town half in which referee Stockbridge gave a handball against the Robins when the ball had clearly struck Cameron Burgess’s hand, the Blues had the ball in the net, Hirst tapping home Leif Davis’s low cross but with the linesman’s flag having been raised against the former Leeds man as he chased Morsy’s ball down the left.
In the 33rd minute, Hirst shot from the right of the area through to Southwood with the Blues continuing to prod and probe while dominating possession.
Three minutes later, Morsy was booked for a foul on Olayinka inside the centre circle, the Town captain’s 10th yellow card of the season and first since February 25th but with it now taking 15 to warrant a suspension.
The Blues’ goal came under threat in the 40th minute when Goodwin won the ball from Davis on the right and gave it to Broom, who played a low cross into the box with the Town defence hesitant but Luke Woolfenden smashed behind with May lurking.
A minute later, Town broke forward to the other end, Hirst feeding Chaplin on the edge of the box but the former Pompey man scuffed wide.
Ben Williams shot well over from distance for the Robins after a long throw had been cleared as the half moved into its penultimate minute.
In two minutes of injury time, Massimo Luongo sought to bundle his way into the area but his stabbed effort was easy for Southwood.
Seconds before the whistle, Town should have taken the lead. Davis sent over a long throw from the left, Clarke flicked on, it caught a defender and landed at the unmarked Burns’s feet but the Welshman shot too close to Southwood when he should have scored.
The game had followed the expected pattern with the Blues dominating but with Cheltenham putting up stiff resistance and causing Town a few problems, while the wind had also hampered Kieran McKenna’s men at times.
The Blues, who had taken their time without conceding to 911 minutes, had created two big opportunities, Harness’s scuffed effort and Burns’s miss just before the break.
Cheltenham: Southwood, Long (c), Bradbury, Freestone, Broom, Sercombe, Bonds, Williams, Olayinka, May, Goodwin. Subs: MacDonald, Taylor, Ferry, Keena, Perry, Rea, Brown.
Town: Walton, Clarke, Woolfenden, Burgess, Burns, Morsy (c), Luongo, Davis, Chaplin, Harness, Hirst. Subs: Hladky, Donacien, Ball, Humphreys, Edwards, Jackson, Ladapo. Referee: Sebastian Stockbridge (Tyne and Wear). Att: 5,445 (1,509).