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Scorers :  Sherbourne 6, Gosney 11, Helier 90  /  Dan Mason 16, Barry Mason 34

Date : Saturday 23rd July 2016 - 3pm - Friendly

AFC Totton : Awaiting line-up

Yellow Card : 

Sholing : Ryan Gosney, Jack Smith, Marv McLean, Pete Castle, Dan Miller, Jamie Bulpitt, Barry Mason, Byron Mason [c], Dan Mason, Zac Mouland, Jake Hoole.  Subs all used : Kevin Brewster, Joel Drew, Kieran Winman, Owen Roundell, Liam Attrill, Jack Attrill, Owen Royl, Nick Yeomans, Jordan Brooks

Yellow Card :

Attendance : 100 ish (Approx 25 Sholing fans)

Man of the Match : Zac Mouland

Referee : Will Bull  Assistants: Rudi Burton & Andrew Bailey 

A very hot day on the other side of Southampton saw the Boatmen narrowly defeated by Southern League Totton.  However, there were more positives than negatives from a game that Sholing probably deserved more from, result wise.  

Sholing had almost a full strength squad to call upon, apart from the injured Zach Glasspool and Alex Sawyer, who was away.  Totton included ex-Saints player Pedro Pele in their line-up.

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The sun was beating down on the very nicely appointed Totton ground, but Sholing were caught cold in the first 11 minutes, conceding two goals.  Possession was given away in midfield on 6 minutes, with the ball gifted to Sherbourne, who spotted that Ryan Gosney was awaiting a pass back and was out of position and he curled in a fine finish from 22 yards.  Things didn't get any better on 11 minutes when a freekick was conceded just outside the box and Mike Gosney was able to find the bottom corner with an accurate low shot. 

Sholing were straight on the offensive with Zac Mouland and Jake Hoole stretching the Totton defence down the flanks.  On 16 minutes a move down the left wing saw Jake Hoole find space inside the area, his strong shot was parried by the keeper, but straight to DAN MASON who made no mistake from 8 yards.  It was mostly Sholing creating the chances as Byron Mason rose highest, but planted a header from a corner straight at the keeper.  Then Jake Hoole shot narrowly over and Pete Castle put a freekick a foot over the bar. 

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Dan Mason had a tough job on his hands being marked by Pele and one time Sholing target, Patrick Wilson. However, he was holding the ball up well and on 32 mins he spun and shot in one movement, but the ball flashed across the goal mouth.

A couple of minutes later, Sholing equalised with a lovely goal.  A clipped diagonal ball saw BARRY MASON in a race with the on-rushing Goalie, Barry got their first, toed it past the keeper, but away from goal, but he did superbly to use the outside of his boot to flick the ball backwards into the empty net.  Boatmen continued to press, but just before the break, Ryan Gosney did brilliantly to tip over a fierce shot from close-in.  HT 2-2

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The second half kicked off with Totton more on the offensive against a Sholing side that had several changes as Dave Diaper endeavoured to give all his squad a run-out.  As often happens in friendlies, the tempo dropped, with neither keeper having much to do for a while.  There were first run outs of pre-season for Kevin Brewster and Jack Attrill. The latter returning to action after a lengthy injury lay off.

On 74 minutes Sholing created a good chance as Nick Yeomans linked up down the right to make room for a shot, but the ball just popped up a little, causing him to blaze over.  An even better chance fell for Zac Mouland to score against his old team, but his scuffed effort went wide of the post.  After more good movement, the ball dropped to Owen Roundell on the edge of the area, but he couldn't keep his shot down.   The game looked set for a draw, but with almost the last kick Totton nicked the win.  A through ball evaded the out-stretched leg of Byron Mason (who was now in central defence) and it allowed Helier to skip through and coolly knock the ball past the on-rushing Jordan Brooks and into the goal.  Shame about the result, but it's still more about fitness and match sharpness and for most of the game, Sholing played some good football, dominated possession and created some good chances. FT 3-2

Thanks to AFC Totton for their hospitality and good luck for the season. Also best wishes to Dylan Knight for a speedy recovery from his shoulder injury.

Report & Pics by Keith Legg

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