PARIS Lens were denied their first home league win of the year on Friday, when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Troyes in the French first division.

Lens, winless at the Felix Bollaert Stadium since beating Olympique Marseille 1-0 in December, took a 10th minute lead with a header from defender Franck Queudrue.

But Troyes, who are chasing an Intertoto Cup berth, leveled in the 71st minute when striker Samuel Boutal slotted home from a corner, Reuters reported.

Lens are now 14th in the table on 39 points while Troyes, are seventh on 44, trailing fourth placed Lille by seven points.

The match had been postponed last month as a security measure. The French Army were removing World War I munitions from a camp at nearby Vimy and police said they did not have enough officers to control an expected 40,000 crowd at the match and help with the transport of the arms stockpile.