Alresford1 3Sholing

Scorers : Conor Whiteley 67  /  Marv McLean 52, Dan Mason 71, Lee Wort 84

Date: Tuesday 7th August 2018 - 7:45pm - Sydenhams Wessex Premier

Venue: Arlebury Park

Sholing : Ryan Gosney, TJ Cuthbertson, Marv Mclean, Pete Castle, Owen Roundell, Owen Royl (Jack Smith 72), Jamie Bulpitt, Byron Mason [c], Dan Mason (Brad Targett 85), Lee Wort, Jake Hoole (Billy Connor 72).  Subs not used : Alex Sawyer & Kev Brewster

Yellow Card : Owen Roundell

Alresford Town : Dan Kempson, Liam Hibberd, Tom Ashton (Ik Hill 73), Kieran Stephens, Ryan Green, Sam Doswell, Jason Silver (Aaron Blaxall 84), Sam Burt, Conor Whiteley, Ben White [c], Steven Hall (Tom Richards 73). Subs not used : Geoff Dunn, George Farrelly

Yellow Card : Ryan Green & Ben White

Attendance:  96 (approx 35 Sholing fans)

Referee: Tim Godfray  Assistant Referees: Declan Skehan & Kat Carver

Three quality finishes in the second half after a Gosney penalty save in the first half, earned Sholing the points in an eventful match at Alresford Town. 

Jake Hoole returned to the starting line-up in place of Billy Connor in Dave Diaper's only change from Saturday.  Jack Smith returned to the squad, but Dan Miller was away on hols.  A pleasant and thankfully, cooler, evening for both players and spectators alike as the game got underway in front of a decent crowd with the usual good travelling support from Sholing.

Alresford started brightly, putting the Boatmen on the back foot and the home side had the ball in the back of the net after just 2 minutes.  However, the linesman flagged for offside as a shot parried by Gosney was tapped back past him.  Alresford continued to look lively going forward and were awarded a penalty on 12 minutes when Gosney came out and the Referee judged he fouled the on-rushing player.  "Gos" dived full length to his right to push the spot-kick round the post. 

Sholing's main threat at this point was from set pieces, with firstly Owen Royl's inswinging corner headed off the line at the far post and then from another corner, Byron climbed highest but headed over.   Ben White was pulling the strings for Alresford and he somehow evaded three Sholing players on the half way line before launching a quick attack. The home side also saw a move down the left wing see a good ball put into the middle and met first time, but go just wide.

Boatmen started to grow into the game as the half progressed.  Lee Wort was having a battle with the Alresford left back on the wing.  Ashton won the initial tussles between the two, winning freekicks against the forward, but then Wort left the No.3 on his backside a couple of times, firstly playing in Hoole who shot into the side netting and then setting up Jamie Bulpitt who curled an effort over.    Jake Hoole saw a low shot on the run saved at the second attempt by Kempson as the half ended even. HT 0-0

Sholing took the lead on 52 minutes with a fantastic goal.  Byron Mason slid a lovely pass between two Alresford players into the path of the overlapping MARV MCLEAN, who checked back past a defender and cut into the box before curling a right foot shot just inside the far post.  Lee Wort appealed for a penalty as he was upended, but the ref gave a freekick right on the edge of the area instead.  Jake Hoole's well struck set-piece was tipped over the bar by Kempson.

Boatmen looked in control, but gifted Alresford an equaliser when a slip in defence allowed Conor Whiteley to run in on goal and dink a cool finish past Gosney. However, the visitors were soon back in front, with DAN MASON scoring his 4th of the season in spectacular fashion.  A high ball into the box dropped over the shoulder of "D-Dan" who hit if first time on the volley from 12 yards and his fierce connection was too much for the keeper who couldn't keep it out at his near post.

Ryan Gosney had to pull off another good save to keep Sholing in front on 78 minutes, getting down sharpish to his right to tip a low shot round his upright.   From that point onwards, it was one-way traffic as Alresford looked a beaten side and Sholing were playing with confidence and creating chances for fun. Just on the pitch from the bench, Jack Smith had a low shot tipped away for a corner.  Pete Castle headed against the crossbar, Billy Connor beat two players before having a shot scrambled away and there were several other openings before the game was put to bed on 84 mins.  TJ Cuthbertson out on the right wing put over a peach of a cross to the arriving LEE WORT who buried his header past the keeper for a classic goal.    There was time for more chances to be created, with Pete Castle having a bullet header unfortunately cleared off the line, by one of his teammates.  FT 1-3

Dave Diaper said after the match : "Great shift put in by the lads tonight & totally deserved the win against a good, well organised Alresford side who competed well, especially in the first 15 mins. I thought we showed great character and self belief and our finishing was top class. Now we move onto Knaphill in the FA Cup I will be keeping tabs on the game from Portugal. A big thank you to all our supporters who made the trip tonight"

Next Game : Knaphill v Sholing - Saturday 11th August 3pm - FA Cup

Photos by Ray Routledge (click an image to enlarge)