Sholing1 2Brockenhurst

Scorers :  Jamie Bulpitt 68  /  Mitchell Speechley-Price 18, Matt Sheedy 73

Date : Saturday 16 September 2017 - 3:00pm - Sydenhams Wessex Premier

Venue : Universal Stadium

Sholing : Ryan Gosney, TJ Cuthbertson, Marv McLean, Owen Roundell, Dan Miller, Alex Sawyer (Owen Royl), Barry Mason, Byron Mason [c], Dan Mason, Lee Wort, Jamie Bulpitt.  Subs not used : Jack Smith, Zac Mouland, Bradey Norton, Kev Brewster

Yellow Card : Ryan Gosney & TJ Cuthbertson

Brockenhurst : Matt Taylor, Aaron Dunne, Ben Kelly, Greg King, Matt Burt [c], Jude Nwachukwu, Will Tickle, Matt Casey, Mitchell Speechley-Price, Matt Sheedy, Mark Barker.  Subs: Chris Wateridge, Noel McCarthy-Gardiner, Oliver Dennett & Ed Kitcher

Yellow Card : Oliver Dennett
Red Card : Greg King

Attendance : 91

Man of the Match : Marv McLean

Referee : Alex Rush-Fear   Assistants : Andrew Brown & Liam Bertram

Sholing were rueing missed chances, none bigger than a Penalty, as they were defeated by a lively & hard working Brockenhurst team.

Team News : TJ Cuthbertson was making his 100th appearance for Sholing.  Not involved was Connor Kelly, who the night before had been granted a move back to Newport IoW.

Game started at a frantic pace, with both sides finding it difficult to retain possession, but the visitors adapted quicker and it wasn't a surprise when they took the lead in the 18th minute.  After a set-piece, the ball came to the feet of Speechley-Price, who on the edge of the area, turned and hit a low shot that curled away from Gosney and inside in the near post.

This woke Sholing up and they started to find some gaps in the Brock defence, with both Barry & Dan Mason forcing routine saves from Taylor.  Some nice interplay down the right wing saw Barry Mason burst into space, but his shot on the run went over.  There was a huge chance for Dan Mason on 34 mins as the ball found him alone in the 6 yard box, but he opted to go with his right foot and perhaps connected too well as the ball flew off his foot and wide of the upright, when probably any connection with his left would have gone in.  The visitors continued to look well organised at the back and pacey up front as the ref blew for half time.  HT 0-1

Sholing upped the tempo in the second half, with both TJ & Marv pushing forward more, trying to get in behind Brockenhurst.  The Boatmen were getting into several good positions out wide, but the final ball was like a magnet to Matt Burt, who seemed to clear most things from his area.

On 67 minutes, Sholing drew level when JAMIE BULPITT did well to get his foot over a high bouncing ball to hook his shot across the keeper and into the far corner.  You felt that the Boatmen would go on to win from this point, but it was Brockenhurst who retook the lead on 73 mins when a shot from Matt Sheedy took a big deflection to wrong foot Gosney.

Sholing kept on pushing for another equaliser and when Marv McLean got to the byline, his cutback was smashed goalwards, but Greg King stuck out an arm on the line to stop it.  The Referee pointed to the spot and showed a red card to King.  Barry Mason stepped up to take the pen, but his shot was well saved by Matt Taylor, diving away to his right.   Taylor pulled off an even better save soon after when Dan Mason hit a freekick from 20 yards, but this time, Taylor went full length to his left to parry away.

The referee added on a generous 6 minutes of hectic stoppage time and in that period we had the sight of Byron Mason seemingly pushed over in the box and Ryan Gosney playing up front.  In fact, the game ended slightly bizarrely with the ball heading into the unguarded Sholing net, but before it went over the line, the Referee had blown for full time.

For Sholing, it was the 3rd league defeat of the season. Usually, teams winning the Wessex only lose 4 or 5 a season, so the Boatmen will have to avoid anymore slip-ups if they want to be challenging right at the top of the table come April.  FT 1-2

Next Game : Moneyfields v Sholing - Tuesday 19 September 7:45pm - Hampshire Senior Cup
Next Home Game : Sholing U18's v Wimborne U18's - Thursday 21 September 7:45pm - FA Youth Cup

Photos courtesy of Ray Routledge