Sholing4 0Whitchurch

Scorers : Dan Mason 14, Dan Miller 26, Lee Wort 34 & 73

Date : Friday 21st July 2017 - 7:30pm - Pre-Season Friendly

Venue : Universal Stadium

Sholing (players used) : Ryan Gosney, TJ Cuthbertson, Marv McLean, Dan Miller, Byron Mason, Micky Hubbard, Alex Sawyer, A Trialist, Zac Mouland, Lee Wort, Dan Mason, Barry Mason, Jean-Luc Ramdin, Connor Kelly, Kevin Brewster, Jamie Bulpitt, Jamie Bray

Whitchurch United:

Attendance : 64

Sholing got their pre-season fixtures underway with an entertaining & competitive game against Whitchurch United.  Thunderstorms & torrential rain meant Tuesday's game at Winchester had to be called off and once again, the weather took centre stage as heavy rain didn't relent for the entire 90 minutes.

As you would expect, the Boatmen were a bit rusty in the opening exchanges, but there was a sense of normality restored on 14 minutes when DAN MASON scored the opening goal.  If there is such a thing as a trademark D-Dan goal, then this was pretty much it.  He collected the ball outside the area with his back to goal, held off the defender, turned, made a little space and fired into the bottom corner, leaving the keeper rooted to the spot.

Sholing doubled the lead on 26 minutes when Micky Hubbard floated in a corner towards the far post and DAN MILLER rose highest to nod down inside the post.  The Boatmen were looking much sharper now, passing the ball around well with the front 3 showing good movement.  TJ drove forward into some space and let fly from 25 yards, but the Whitchurch keeper did very well to tip over the stinging drive.  From the resultant corner, Byron climbed highest, but his header crashed off the underside of the bar and out.

Boatmen grabbed their third goal with a well worked move on 34 mins.  Dan Mason collected the ball on the right edge of the box, turned his man and drove towards the 6 yard box where he squared the ball to LEE WORT to force it over the line under pressure from a defender.  HT 3-0

The subsitutions started to flow in the second half, with Connor Kelly given his first run out in Sholing colours following his move from Newport IoW.  He immediately showed good pace and a willingness to take people on with some runs down the left wing.   There wasn't a great deal of goal mouth action for the few fans taking shelter in the stand and outside the clubhouse, partly as Sholing wasted several good openings when they got in behind the Whitchurch defence, but failed to pick out a team mate.

On 71 minutes, the Boatmen were awarded a penalty when in a bundle, a Whitchurch defender handled on the line.  Perhaps a bit harshly given it was a friendly, he was shown his marching orders by the ref.  Lee Wort stepped up, but the keeper dived to his left to parry the penalty into the path of Jean-Luc, who smacked the follow up onto the top of the bar.

LEE WORT only had to wait a minute to find the net again when Barry Mason crossed from the right and Lee connected with a shot that bounced into the ground and up and over the stranded keeper.

Whitchurch, who included ex-Boatmen Nick Yeomans & Corey Cherrett, looked a bit more dangerous with 10 men, than 11 and with Jamie Bray coming on for the underworked Gosney, he was forced into a couple of good saves.  There was also a goalmouth scramble that somehow didn't result in the visitors scoring.  FT 4-0

Overall, a good run-out for the first team squad, who looked much sharper than you would expect for their first game of pre-season.  Thanks to Whitchurch for playing their part in dreadful weather conditions.  Good luck for the season (apart when we face each other in the Hampshire Cup in a few weeks!)

Next Game : Fawley v Sholing, Wednesday 26th July 7:30pm
Next Home Game : Sholing v East Cowes Vics, Friday 28th July 7:30pm

Photos courtesy of Ray Routledge (click an image to enlarge)