Nuneaton deservedly earned a lucrative replay after securing a goalless draw against 10-man Stoke City.

Neither goalkeeper had a shot to save before City midfielder Brynjar Gunnarsson was sent off three minutes before the break for his second bookable offence.

Borough went for glory in the second period with Delton Francis and Lee Charles going close in front of more than 2,000 vociferous followers.

Nuneaton goalkeeper Chris McKenzie became a hero three minutes from time when he made a magnificent double save to keep out efforts from Peter Thorne and Clive Clarke.

The Conference side caused some early flutters in the Stoke defence with Nicky Mohan finally clearing in a goalmouth scramble.

Stoke attempted to step on the gas with Kyle Lightbourne's shot blocked and Mikael Hansson going close to breaching Nuneaton's packed rearguard.

Gunnarsson looked to be booked harshly for a tackle on Dave Crowley in the 23rd-minute and was sent off three minutes before the break for encroaching at a free-kick.

Stoke had a scare within two minutes of the restart when Carl Muggleton fumbled a cross and an overhead kick by Francis was bundled clear by Graham Kavanagh.

Mohan headed the ball over from Kavanagh's free-kick at the other end and Nuneaton and their fans were starting to believe it was their day.

Charles burst clear and blasted a shot wide of Muggleton's right-hand post, then teed- up Barry Williams, whose effort was blocked by Kavanagh.

City hung on and should have taken the lead on the hour when Stefan Thordarson danced past two tackles but his close-range shot was smothered by McKenzie.

Stoke bucked up after a double substitution 13 minutes from time but could not find a way past excellent McKenzie.

His saves from Thorne and Clarke were spectacular and he produced another memorable effort when he clawed away Thorne's close-range shot in the closing seconds.