Sholing0 1Moneyfields

Scorer : Hutchings (pen) 54

Date : Tuesday 14th March 2017 - 7:45pm - Sydenhams Wessex Premier

Venue : Universal Stadium

Sholing : Ryan Gosney, TJ Cuthbertson, Marvin McLean, Luke Dempsey, Dan Miller, Micky Hubbard, Alex Sawyer (Owen Royl 67’), Byron Mason [c], Jake Hoole, Dan Mason, Lee Wort. Subs Not Used: Jordan Brooks, Zac Mouland, Nick Yeomans, Kevin Brewster

Yellow Card : Byron  Mason

Moneyfields : Steve Mowthorpe; Tyler Siddings (James Guthrie 67’), Connor Bailey, Lewis Fennemore, Curtis Da Costa; Brett Poate, Jake Raine, Daniel Woodward, Daniel Wooden (Gavin Spurway 88’); Daniel Simmonds (Daniel Hayes 82’), Steve Hutchings [c]. Subs Not Used: Daniel Gauntlett, Ashley Paul

Yellow Card : Lewis Fennermore & Brett Poate

Attendance : 124

Man of the Match : Byron Mason

Referee : Derek Hughes  Assistants : Ade Skeates and John Foster

A harsh penalty decision and a frustrating refereeing display, led to Sholing losing narrowly to league Leader’s Moneyfields in a scrappy game.

Team News: Following Saturday’s eight changes, Dave Diaper was able to revert to his preferred selection of players, apart from Jamie Bulpitt & Barry Mason, who were still missing through injury.

The match was preceded with a minute’s applause for Sholing supporter, John Alford, who recently passed away.

Tensions were high right from the kick off, with strong challenges being made by both teams. The away side did have the ball in the net inside seven minutes, but the linesman flagged Hutchings offside before he fired the ball into the net.

Jake Hoole had the first opportunity for the Boatmen, as he went on a mazy run, cut in from the right and hit a low left-footed strike that was straight to keeper Steve Mowthorpe. Byron Mason was cautioned following an altercation with Moneys skipper Steve Hutchings which ended with Hutchings getting a push and the big striker falling dramatically to the floor.

Micky Hubbard then had a powerful long range shot which whistled wide of the post, as the home side began to create more going forward, although the game remained very stop-start due to a lot of stoppages and no advantage being played.

Dan Miller had to come to Sholing’s rescue when Ryan Gosney got the ball first but his clearance was blocked by the Moneys forward and the ball was deflected towards the open goal, but Miller was able to tidy up before the ball approached the line.

Dan Mason found himself in space behind the Moneyfields defence, but his effort sailed over the bar from 18-yards despite being pulled back as he shot.

Moneyfields then came close to scoring through Daniel Wooden, but his shot was met by a strong Ryan Gosney hand, and went out for a corner. Dan Mason again had a shot toward the end of the half, but his effort was charged down and blocked. HT 0-0

The decisive moment of the game up came in the 54th minute when Daniel Woodward was adjudged to have been tripped inside the penalty area with the referee pointing to the spot after some hesitation. The Sholing players asked him to speak to his assistant, who was closer to the incident and didn't give anything, but the Ref appeared to over-rule him.  Hutchings took his chance and slotted the penalty past Ryan Gosney, despite Gos getting his left hand to the ball, it found the bottom right corner.

A few minutes later, Jake Hoole was late with his tackle, which sparked a big melee between the two teams in which a punch was thrown by a Moneyfields player. After a 5 minute delay in which the senior assistant came onto the field of play to oversee the incident, the referee then discussed with his junior assistant and between them they had failed to clock who it was who started the melee or indeed made the original foul.  There then came the bizarre sight of the ref asking Byron Mason which of his players had made the foul.  After all that, no cards were dished out.

Things got even more farcical when a goalkick by Gosney was in mid-air, the ref blew his whistle, both sets of players stopped & turned to the ref asking what he was stopping the game for, but he seemingly blew his whistle by accident and the ball rolled out of play unattended by either side, as confusion & frustration reigned.

Despite the distracting officiating, there was still a football match happening (just about) and Sholing pushed hard to claw their way back into the game. Owen Royl was introduced for Alex Sawyer and Sholing threw Marvin McLean forward in search of an equaliser. Lewis Fennemore was the first Moneyfields player cautioned by referee Hughes for a foul.

Sholing were having the most luck down the right and a cross by Lee Wort was dummied by Hoole into the path of Dan Mason, who swept his shot from 10 yards straight at the keeper.  Mowthorpe then produced a stunning save to deny Byron Mason, who connected powerfully with a header at a corner, but the keeper did very well to tip the goalbound effort over the bar.

The visitors were doing all they could to run down the clock, with continued lengthy stoppages and several players going down for treatment.  Brett Poate, who was a magnet for the ball in protection of the Moneyfields penalty area, was cautioned when he fouled Byron Mason. Byron had the final chance for the Boatmen, but his fierce 20 yard strike went wide of the goal.

It was an eerie atmosphere inside the Universal Stadium at full-time, as the officials walked off the pitch following a lengthy talk with Sholing manager Dave Diaper. FT 0-1

Match Report by Liam Richner

Dave Diaper said on Facebook after the match : Obviously I'm not happy about the result tonight. However, I thought Moneyfields were street-wise and once they took the lead, albeit for a penalty that should never have been given, they repeatedly disrupted the flow of the game with their gamesmanship and took advantage of the referee who let the control of the game slip away for him. 

For our part, missed chances have cost us again and also Mowey in goal played his part in making a game changing save from Byron's header. So, good luck to Moneyfields in their quest to win the league and I want a reaction from us against Cowes on Saturday, as being 2nd best is not an option that's acceptable to me.

Next Game : Cowes Sports v Sholing - Saturday 18th March 3pm
Next Home Game : Sholing v Team Solent - Tuesday 21st March 7:45pm