Swindon Town picked up a rare clean sheet in the deep fog as they drew 0-0 with Crewe Alexandra to extend their unbeaten streak at home.

A first half which lasted nearly two hours in actual time due to the weather was low on action when it finally got properly going with just one shot on target.

Town continued to have the better of the second half and forced a few saves but could not claim what would have been a massive three points.

Swindon kept their first clean sheet in the league for 99 days and as the only game being played managed to move up to 20th in the table.

Ian Holloway made four changes to the team which had been defeated at Notts County last weekend, the headline of which saw Tom Nichols come straight in for his debut having arrived on Friday. Jack Bycroft also returned to the side in goal due to an injury to Dan Barden along with Ollie Clarke and Harry Smith coming back in.

The ground staff had done a fabulous job to get the game on at all but both sides still had to contend with a deep and ominous fog which enveloped The Nigel Eady County Ground.

The fog got to such a point that after just three minutes had been played the referee called the players off the pitch before the game finally restarted at 4 pm. In a season of strange things happening like outfielders in goal and gale-force winds, this might just have been the most bizarre.

When play finally got going properly, Crewe instantly took charge as they moved the ball around sharply and with real purpose. They could have scored inside seven minutes when Max Conway slammed a low cross through the six-yard box but nobody was on hand to get on the end of it.

Even if it had been a clear day, Swindon would have struggled to keep track of their movement in the final third.

But Town did manage to get their eye in eventually and started pushing Crewe about and winning some corners. Will Wright kept looking to stick them on the goalkeeper to try and play on his indecision.

That was not the worst plan and a few nervously defended set pieces eventually resulted in a shot from the edge of the box being parried out to Aaron Drinan, who pulled an effort wide of the far post.

Swindon’s direct style was getting them up the pitch quickly and slowing down how Crewe wanted to play. Set pieces were coming in groups and helping to build the pressure. The clearest sight came as Clarke rattled the post from outside the area following a half clearance.

The territorial superiority was not creating much in the way of opportunities but it limited the visitors even more to occasional raids through Omar Bogle. All of this resulted in both teams cancelling each other and getting lost in their quest for an opening goal.

In stoppage time, with both teams having plodded through the opening 45 minutes inspiration almost struck. Gavin Kilkenny and Drinan worked the ball down the left side of the Crewe penalty area and slid a ball through the goalmouth. Smith seemed to be in the right position to gobble up what had been put on a plate for him as he appeared out of the mist but he couldn’t make the decisive contact.

Three minutes after the restart Swindon zigzagged the ball straight through the Crewe rearguard and Nichols was put through for a big chance to open his account. But the striker lacked conviction in his shot and Filip Marschall made a fairly routine stop in the end.

The ease of that move and the conditions returning to something close to normal seemed to buoy everyone around the ground and suddenly Town couldn’t stop shooting, with both Ryan Delaney and Kilkenny taking aim from range as Crewe felt their backs rest against the wall.

All the chances were still coming for the home team when Drinan chested the ball down for Smith on the edge of the box. He took a touch and looked to get a shot off before seeming to be tripped. The ball did fall for Clarke but his effort struck a defender and bounced behind.

Even though Crewe came into the game second in the table and Swindon third from bottom, there was a win on the table for them if they could just create the right chance.

But it never arrived and Bycroft had to come to the rescue late on after Chris Long was sent through on him.

Having battled through all sorts of conditions for the game to even happen and managed to make a side in the thick of the promotion race seem very ordinary – Swindon will have been frustrated not to have caught the rest of the division whilst they weren’t looking.

STFC starting XI: Bycroft, Sobowale, Delaney, Wright, Ofoborh, Clarke, Smith, Nichols, Kilkenny, Drinan, Kirkman.

STFC substitutes: Myers, Cotterill, Glatzel, Cain, Tshimanga, Butterworth, Ameen.

CAFC starting XI: Marschall, Cooney, Knight-Lebel, Williams, Demetriou, Sanders, Bogle, Lankester, Holicek, Powell, Conway.

CAFC substitutes: Booth, Long, Tracey, Tabiner, Lunt, Finney, Billington.

Attendance: 6638 (433 away).