Alresford1 7Sholing

Scorers :  Brian Howard 19  /  James Davis 13, 58, Byron Mason 27, 77, Jamie Bulpitt 44, Marv McLean 57, Dan Miller 64

Date : Saturday 26th September 2015 - 3:00pm kick off - Sydenhams Wessex Premier League

Alresford Town : John Howard, Sam Carter, Adam Carrick, Dan Fox, Ben Dexter [c], Jamie Bentley, Adam Price, Brian Howard, John Mulhern, Ben Thompson (Maciej Marcinkawski 60), Tom Donaldson.  Subs not used: Aaron Maynard, Adam Brooks

Yellow Card :  Ben Dexter

Sholing : Ryan Gosney, Kevin Brewster (Alex Sawyer 51), Jack Smith, Dean Faithfull, Dan Miller, Jamie Bulpitt, Marvin McLean, Byron Mason [c], Barry Mason (Owen Roundell 17), Lewis Kelly (Tobi Adekunle 67) James Davis. Subs not used: Dan Mason, Lee Webber

Yellow Card : James Davis

Red Card : Dean Faithfull

Attendance : 65 (20 Sholing fans)

Man of the Match : Whole team (as picked by Dave Diaper)

Referee : David Cotton  Assistants: Declan Hellyer & Nigel Gibbens 

Sholing ran riot at Alresford, despite playing for 78 minutes with 10 men!  Dean Faithfull saw red early on, but that motivated the Boatmen to put on a show and they scored some fantastic goals to extend the unbeaten run to 9 games.

Team News: Barry Mason made his 450th appearance for VT/Sholing.  Dan Mason was still struggling with a hip injury suffered against Salisbury, so sat the game out. Lewis Kelly came in his place.

The game kicked off in bright sunshine and it was a quiet opening 10 minutes that was in stark contrast to the rest of the match.  Things livened up on 13 minutes when Jamie Bulpitt got to the right byline and his cross into the 6 yard box was tapped home by JAMES DAVIS for his first goal for the club. A minute later, Dean Faithfull tangled with the Alresford striker who went down in a heap.  The ref deemed it a professional foul and off went Deano to his surprise and pretty much everyone elses.  Sadly for Barry Mason, he made way for Owen Roundell, as Dave Diaper decided to bolster the defence. Another harsh decision came a few minutes later when Alresford were awarded a freekick 25 yards out.  Ex-Southampton, Barnsley & Reading player, Brian Howard, curled the ball round the wall and just inside the post to equalise. 

You could sense that those two events galvanised the Boatmen into upping their game and just before the half hour the Alresford keeper flapped at a cross and BYRON MASON was on hand to smash the ball into the roof of the net from 8 yards.  Sholing were back in control and Kevin Brewster's set pieces were causing the home side problems. However, it was from open play that the Boatmen scored their third and it was an absolute belter!  JAMIE BULPITT collected the ball in midfield, wasn't closed down, so decided to try his luck from fully 35 yards and his shot flew under the crossbar, as he opened his account for Sholing.  HT 1-3

The second half started as it left off, with Sholing on top and you forgot we were a man down as the strength, pace & passing were too much for the home side to deal with.  On 57 minutes, MARV MCLEAN received the ball on the right wing, he checked past one player, sped past another as he cut inside, and from 20 yards out, curled a wonderful left foot shot into the top corner.  A minute later, Sholing had their 5th when JAMES DAVIS took an early shot from the right edge of the penalty area and it arrowed into the opposite bottom corner. 

On 64 minutes, it was number Six. Alex Sawyer had earlier come on for Kev Brewster and his inswinging corner was met at the far post by DAN MILLER.  Tobi Adekunle replaced Lewis Kelly and instantly was in a one-on-one with the keeper, but his shot was saved by the keeper's legs.  It was one-way traffic and no suprise when Sholing scored our 7th.  Another Alex Sawyer corner was met by BYRON MASON who powered in a header via the underside of the crossbar.   FT 1-7

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Photos by Ray Routledge (click an image to enlarge)