Hardly a classic, but Wrexham opened their National League campaign with a hard fought 0-0 draw against a strong and stubborn Dover Athletic side .
The wait for a Wrexham victory over Dover goes on with their record now reading played five, lost three, drawn two after Saturday's stalemate.
Solid but unspectacular is the best way to describe the visitors, who sat in deep at times, and looked to hit Wrexham on the counter.
It was surprising to hear a few boos ring out at the final whistle, especially give Wrexham were up against a side who finished in the play-offs last term, but in truth this was not a particularly inspiring performance from the men in red.
Chances were at a premium for both sides, and indeed it was Dover who had probably the best two – despite Shaun Harrad seeing an effort chalked out for offside – Sean Newton heading Tyrone Marsh's effort off the line and Jim Stevenson cannoning an effort back off the bar.
Gary Mills gave debuts to nine of his summer signings with only newly appointed skipper Sean Newton and Mark Carrington – at either side of the back four – starting from last season's squad.
Robbie Evans , the only other survivor from the summer cull, was not involved in the squad after failing to shake off an injury.
Mills also opted to pick put goalkeeper coach Chris Dunn ahead of Shwan Jalal in goal.
A piece of fortune for Wrexham as a superb shot from Dover's Jim Stevenson had Chris Dunn beaten, but cannoned back off the bar.
The first half started with a look of two boxers feeling each other out, neither side able to create too much against two stern sets of defences.
The first real sight of goal came from the unlikeliest of sources, Hamza Bencherif given space to run into and letting fly with a long range effort that was always going over the top, while Chris Dunn had to be alert to deal with a tame effort from Athletic dangerman Ricky Miller at the other end.
Dunn was again in action moments later, spreading himself to save a Ricky Modeste effort while the goalbound follow up from Jim Stevenson was blocked by Martin Riley .
Bencherif went close to opening the scoring for the Dragons just after the half hour mark, venturing forward yet again but after beating two Dover defenders was unable to control his shot and poked a tame effort straight at Steven Arnold.
With time running out the match suddenly sparked into life, Shaun Harrad slotting the ball into the back of the net from Jordan Evans's cross, only to see the effort chalked out for offside, while almost immediately at the other end Sean Newton acrobatically threw himself to the top corner to head away Tyrone Marsh's effort after Richard Orlu had beaten Mark Carrington and pulled the ball back for the forward.
Wrexham opened a little brighter after the interval, Newton getting forward but seeing a poor effort easily held by Arnold, while John Rooney let fly with a shot from the edge of the box that never troubled the Dover stopper.
Dunn was comfortably behind a shot from the edge of the box by Modeste after a scrappy few minutes that saw neither side able to get the ball down and play football.
Substitute Michael Bakare took the option of shooting when he had two men in the middle waiting for a cross, an option he did take a few minutes later when setting up Rooney for a tired looking effort that was easy for Arnold.
Dover came close to adding an opener, Moses Emmanuel, who only signed for the Whites on Friday, causing problems and his lay off was perfect for Jim Stevenson whose first time effort came back off the bar.
Callum Powell, who came on for Tyler Harvey but was equally man marked by Richard Orlu on his introduction, found a bit of space to let fly with an effort, but his shot was headed clear by Jack Parkinson.
Parkinson was again in the thick of action as Bakare and Paul Rutherford combined to set up Rooney, his effort taking a deflection to just fly the wrong side of the post.
Dunn got down well to push away a Ricky Miller effort after Wrexham were guilty of giving the ball away deep in their own half, and then took the resulting corner with ease to nullify the danger.
Some teams don't make plans for individual players, clearly Chris Kinnear does.
Last season in the corresponding fixture Kinnear employed the excellent Richard Orlu in a man marking role on Kayden Jackson, thus taking the Dragons most potent weapon out of the gameplan.
And he did the same again on Saturday, tasking Orlu with being Tyler Harvey 's shadow for the majority of the game.
It was a plan worth trying, certainly if the Dover boss had a scout at Hyde a week earlier to witness an excellent display from the Dragons summer signing.
Hamza Bencherif – Solid at the back, but also a decent threat going forward, a very good debut from the big centre-half.
Karl Evans – Nothing controversial from the official, even if he did let a number of tough challenges pass, and dealt with a potential flash point well to calm proceedings.
First game of a new season at the Racecourse in front of more than 5,500 fans, as you would expect it was electric at times.
Wrexham huffed and puffed against a solid but unspectacular Dover side, and were unable to break them down.
WREXHAM (4-3-3): Dunn; Carrington, Riley, Bencherif, Newton; Barry (Edwards 73), Rooney, J Evans; Rutherford, Harrad (Bakare 62), Harvey (Powell 64).
DOVER ATHLETIC (5-3-2): Arnold; Magri, Orlu, Grimes (Sterling 84), Parkinson, Thomas; Modeste, Kinnear, Stevenson; Miller, Marsh (Emmanuel 62).
ATTENDANCE : 5,603 (111 – away).