Scorers : Dan Mason 74 / Alex Baldaccino 33
Date : Saturday 18th November 2017 3:00pm - Sydenhams Wessex Premier
Venue : Universal Stadium
Sholing : Ryan Gosney, TJ Cuthbertson, Marv Mclean, Owen Roundell, Dan Miller, Owen Royl, Barry Mason [c] (Rory Wood 81), Alex Sawyer (Duncan Brown 89), Dan Mason, Lee Wort, Jamie Bulpitt. Subs not used : Marlon Mason, Pete Castle, Jamie Bray
Yellow Card : TJ Cuthbertson, Jamie Bulpitt
AFC Portchester : Scott Cameron, Dean Hudson, Rob Evans, Steve Ramsey, Harry Birmingham, Daniel Hayes, Matt Page, Joe Bye [c] (Lewis Edwards 81), Bobby Scott (Charlie Smith 73), Andrew Todd, Alex Baldaccino. Subs not used : Sam Hoolihan, Reece Tuppen, Lewis Noice
Yellow Card :
Attendance : 90
Man of the Match : Dan Mason
Referee : Tom Holden Assistants : Mike Misselbrook & Liam Bertram
Dan Mason earned Sholing a point with a spectacular overhead kick equaliser in a match that was very much, a game of two halves.
Team News: Byron Mason sat this one out due to clocking up 5 cautions this season. Barry took the Captain's armband.
It was the visitors who settled quicker and took control of midfield, pushing Sholing back into our own half. A header was cleared off the Sholing goal line, before Gosney made a good save and further efforts on the Boatmen goal were just off target. It took until the 16th minute for the home side to get into the Portchester area, when a freekick by Barry was cleared back to him and his ball back in saw Owen Roundell in space 10 yards out, but his header on the stretch was claimed by Cameron in goal.
It was no surprise when "Porchy" took the lead on 33 minutes. They were playing the better football and were rewarded when a left wing corner was played in low to the corner of the box where ex-Sholing striker, Alex Baldaccino hit a firm first time shot that squeezed inside the near post. Boatmen were making hard work of going forward, often losing possession to make it a frustrating first half for the home support. HT 0-1
Sholing came out looking much more fired up and were to go on to dominate the second half, playing the ball around at a much higher tempo and using the overlapping fullbacks on each wing to cause the visiting defence lots of problems. On 51 minutes, Dan Mason had a shot kicked away near the goal line, but straight to Dan Miller who hit it goalwards where it struck the prone keeper, who was getting up from diving for the initial shot.
TJ was seeing a lot of the ball and tried his luck from the edge of the area, with Cameron pushing the shot round the post. From the corner, Dan Mason rose highest, but glanced his header just wide. On the left flank, Marv was skinning the full back each time and a run to the byline saw his cut back prodded wide by D-Dan.
Portchester were limited in their attacks, as they seemed to be playing as Sholing did in the first half. Often losing possession, although Gosney still had to be sharp to get down well to save and Owen Royl made an excellent last ditch challenge. It felt like Sholing needed something special to breakthrough a stubborn defence and on 74 minutes, we got it... and then some!
A right wing cross, fired in at some pace and at head height by TJ, came to DAN MASON with his back to goal, 10 yards out and he connected perfectly with a spectacular overhead kick that saw the ball slam into the net. A stunning finish. He almost grabbed a second two minutes later when his 18 yard shot deflected off a defender, taking it over the bar, instead of under it. Sholing continued to push for a winner, and came close when Bulpitt poked the ball towards the far corner, but Cameron scrambled across to claw it out. The point made it 14 games unbeaten for the Boatmen as we stay in 3rd place in the Wessex Premier. FT 1-1
Next Game : Brockenhurst v Sholing - Southampton Senior Cup - Tuesday 21 Nov 7:45pm
