Amesbury1 3Sholing

Scorers : Luke Greenway 28  /  Dan Mason 10, 49, 90+5

Date : Saturday 27th August 2017 - 3pm - Sydenhams Wessex Premier

Venue : Bonnymead Park

Amesbury Town : Paddy Crease, Dan Field, Craig Wheeler [c], Dan Beckles, Chris Blackhall, George Higgins, Cam Roach, Ben Cook, Jordan Matthews, Kieron Stephens, Luke Greenway. Subs : Cam George, Wat Jones, Matt Sherfield

Yellow Card : Dan Beckles

Sholing : Ryan Gosney, Alex Sawyer, Owen Royl, Owen Roundell, TJ Cuthbertson, Micky Hubbard (Kev Brewster 80), Barry Mason [c], Jamie Bulpitt, Dan Mason, Bradey Norton (Zac Mouland 69), Marv McLean.  Subs not used : Byron Mason, Dan Miller & Jamie Bray

Yellow Card : Owen Roundell

Attendance : 37 (approx 25 Sholing fans)

Man of the Match : Dan Mason

Referee : Krasimir Petrov  Assistants : Tim Bunt & Stephen Liddiard

Dan Mason smashed his 4th hat-trick in Sholing colours as the Boatmen went home with all three points.

Team News : Byron & Dan Miller dropped to the bench, still nursing knocks, but Marv started in his old position of left wing as Royl continued at left back.  Zac Mouland returned from Holiday to take a seat on the bench, but Lee Wort & Connor Kelly were both away.

Sun was beating down on Amesbury's picturesque ground as Sholing supporters gathered to out-number the home fans. There was much talk pre-match of the length of the grass on the pitch and Sholing started brightly, attacking the River end where the grass was the longest & most lush.  Bradey Norton saw the defence open up in front of him, but his shot was comfortably saved.

On 10 minutes, Sholing took the lead when Gosney's long clearance was chested forward by DAN MASON, he got between two defenders as he surged into the box and as the keeper narrowed the angle, Dan stretched to poke the ball past Crease & into the net.  5 minutes later and Norton slide a reverse ball into Barry Mason's path, but as he pulled the trigger, a defender got across him to block his effort away for a corner.

D-Dan was hunting more goals and on 21 minutes connected well with an angled shot that the keeper did well to catch at the near post.  It should have been a second goal for the Boatmen as Bradey Norton ran clean through, but the ball got stuck in the pitch and the keeper cleared.

Game changed in the space of one minute on the half hour as Sholing thought they had scored, but Amesbury definitely did.  Firstly, a cross by Marv found Barry Mason at the far stick who did well to wrap his foot round the ball and direct a shot that appeared to go over the line before being hacked cleared.  The linesman said no and Amesbury broke up the right wing where a cross into the middle found Luke Greenway in space to finish past Gosney.

Sholing had a chance to go back in front just before the break as Owen Roundell met a freekick with a free header but he directed it past the far post.  HT 1-1

Dave Diaper changed the team around at half time, with Royl going to right back, Sawyer in midfield, Marv to left back and Bradey to right midfield, with Barry more forward. Boatmen didn't have to wait long to retake the lead as on 49 minutes, DAN MASON scored another superb goal.  TJ threaded a ball from near the half way line into Dan, who controlled well, turned past the defender and from the right corner of the 6 yard box, smashed his shot across the keeper and into the far corner.

For the next 20 minutes or so, Sholing were playing like the game was comfortable, without it really being that comfortable, if that makes sense.  There wasn't an urgency in our play to kill the game off with a third and Amesbury looked increasingly dangerous on the break, especially down the right wing.   The boatmen did have a good chance to put the game to bed, but as a corner bobbled around in the area, both Roundell & Mouland couldn't get clean connections from within the 6 yard box.

Boatmen were warned of Amesbury's pace on the flank and were in debt to a superb save by Gosney who parried a shot with his legs as the home side broke into the box.  It was a similar story on 88 mins as a fast break down the right wing saw Gos save well to keep Sholing in front. Zac Mouland fired a shot from the edge of the box that took a small deflection to take it just past the far post.

With the game deep into added time, DAN MASON latched onto a long ball over the top that bounced up nicely, so when the keeper came rushing out, Dan was able to nod it over him from 12 yards and into the empty net for his hat-trick.  FT 1-3

Next Home Game : Sholing v Hamble Club - Tuesday 29th August 7:45pm - Wessex Premier
(note, Portsmouth Road will be closed for 100 yards from Veals onwards)

Photos courtesy of Ray Routledge