Scorers : Nick Watts 39, Mike Byrne 63  / Lewis Powell 53

Date : Saturday 22nd November 2014 - 3:00pm kick off - Evo-stik League Southern South & West

Sholing :  Matt Brown, Kevin Brewster (Lewis Fear 90), Jude Nwachukwu, TJ Cuthbertson, Mike Byrne, Alex Sawyer, Barry Mason [c] (Taurean Manders 45), Jack Smith, Dan Mason, Alex Baldacchino (Sam Wilson 72), Nick Watts.  Sub not used: Jordan Brookes (GK)

Yellow Card : Mike Byrne 16, Kevin Brewster 86, Taurean Manders 91

Mangotsfield United : Joe Perry, Tom Parrinello, Shaun Lamb, Marcus Mapstone, Gary Colborne, Geriant Bater (Ibrahima Diallo 82), Lewis Hogg [c], Zac Evans (Karim Rendall 66 (Reeko Best 77)), Mitchell Page, Lewis Powell, Steve Davies.  Sub not used: Lewis Shipp

Yellow Card : Marcus Mapstone 36, Steve Davies 58, Shaun Lamb 86, Mitchell Page 86

Attendance : 129

Man of the Match :  Kevin Brewster

Referee :  Marcus Carmichael.  Assistants: Jamie Wells & Ryan Hillier-Smith

Sholing took their recent cup form into the League and came away with a battling win to futher boost confidence throughout the squad and club.

Team News: Dan Miller, Sam Olaofe & Marv McLean missed out through injury.  However, TJ was passed fit to play.  Onto the bench for the first time came Jordan Brookes, a young goalkeeper.

The pitch was heavy after rain overnight, but still in good condition as the game got underway.  The opening 10 minutes were pretty even, with both sides probing for openings, but no chances were forthcoming.  On 14 minutes, Mangotsfield won a freekick on the edge of the Sholing box. The shot appeared to go through the wall, but was straight at Matt Brown, who gathered at the second attempt.  Mike Byrne picked up a harsh yellow card when he appeared to have been fouled first by the visiting player.  Incredibly, Mangotsfield escaped a yellow card of their own when Alex Baldacchino was on the receiving end of a wrestling clothes-line challenge. 

The first decent effort on goal came on 28 minutes when a pin-point Kev Brewster cross was headed inches over the bar at the far post by Nick Watts.  The Mangotsfield defence finally received a caution from the ref when Dan Mason was hauled back by his neck when he was about to break through on goal.  On 37 minutes, another excellent in-swinging freekick by Brewwy saw the ball skid off TJ's head from close range and somehow go wide.  However, the Boatmen's pressure paid off a couple of minutes later when some neat play down the right saw Barry Mason played in behind the defence and his fierce cross was parried by the keeper, straight to the feet of NICK WATTS who swept the ball inside the post on 39 minutes.  HT 1-0

Barry Mason had to come off at half time with a neck injury, Taurean Manders coming on, with Jude Nwachukwu switching from left back to right wing. Kevin Brewster's set-pieces continued to cause the visitors all sorts of problems and after a couple of corners, Mike Byrne headed over a the far post. Mangotsfield were coming more into the game and equalised on 52 minutes when a precise ball from midfield into the area found Lewis Powell in space to fire low into the net.  That clearly gave them a big lift and they could have gone in front a couple of minutes later when a diving header at the far post bounced down and was touched onto the bar by Matt Brown. 

Sholing got straight back onto the attack and after some trickery on the wing, Jude Nwachukwu was brought down on the penalty area line, with the referee pointing to the spot.  Despite being jostled by the Mangotsfield players, he didn't change his mind, awarding Sholing our first penalty of the season.  Nick Watts stepped up, but his shot was saved by Joe Perry, diving away to his left (after coming a long way off his line). 

The Boatmen didn't let that miss effect them as they won a succession of corners and on 63 minutes it paid off.  Another great delivery by Kev Brewster found the head of MIKE BYRNE, central, 10 yards out and his looping header went over the keeper and the man on the line to score his first goal for the club.   The rain started falling, making the pitch more slippery and Matt Brown had difficulty claiming a low skidding shot, the ball broke to a Mangos player, but he blazed over the bar from 8 yards.  The visitors were pushing hard for an equaliser, and the Sholing defence had to scramble away a few efforts and Matt Brown claim a few crosses.

The game had always been physical, but with conditions worsening, the challenges were getting stronger and the referee was struggling somewhat to keep control.  With Mangotsfield pushing forward, Dan Mason found himself in a race to the ball with the keeper, he got their first, but the ball got stuck under his feet, so he wasn't able to get a clean shot away, with his chipped effort going over.  Unsurprisingly, things boiled on 86 minutes when a number of players squared up to each other, with three bookings resulting and perhaps a Mangotsfield player lucky to escape a red.  From another counter-attack, Sam Wilson broke clear, rounded the keeper, but from a tight angle, his shot was brilliantly cleared off the line.  The referee proceeded to add on 6 minutes, giving Mangotsfield a glimmer of a chance to snatch a draw, but some strong defending and tackling by the Boatmen kept them at bay. FT 2-1

Photos by Ray Routledge (click to enlarge)

• Sholing escorted by our U7 team Sholing escorted by our U7 team
• TJ TJ
• Dan Mason Dan Mason
• Kevin Brewster Kevin Brewster
• Wall Wall
• The West Side Boys The West Side Boys
• I didn't touch him I didn't touch him
• Wattsie's shot finds the net Wattsie's shot finds the net
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