Horndean 0-2 Sholing

Scorers : Lee Wort 29, Conor Whiteley 62

Date: Tuesday 19 July 2022, 7:45pm – Pre-Season Friendly

Venue:  Five Heads Park

Sholing players used : Ryan Gosney, Ryan Cluett, Marv McLean, Byron Mason ©, Owen Roundell, Dan Miller, Dom Panesar-Dower, Rob Nicholls, Sami Makhloufi, Dan Mason, Lee Wort, Conor Whiteley, Jake Cope, Josh Batt, Jack Mann, Stu Green, Ali Zintany, Dean Frampton, Lochlan Colquhoun

Lee Wort & Conor Whiteley got the goals as Sholing continued preparations for the new season with a good test at Horndean

Diapes had almost a full squad at his disposal and would go on to give every player some minutes, especially as it was several players first run out in pre-season.  Players who were not available were Rob Flooks, Brad Targett & Charlie Wagstaffe.  Two new faces were Dom Panesar-Dower, a central midfielder who has played for Weymouth, Dorchester & Winchester and Ali Zintany, formally of Blackfield & Langley, who played wide right in the second half.

Thankfully for everyone playing and watching, the hottest day of the year/decade/ever cooled right down with a fresh breeze as the game got underway.  The home side had the first attacks, kicking up the slope, with Blankson shooting wide and then Willett testing Ryan Gosney with a curling dipping shot from the edge of the area that Gos did well to tip over.   A classic Marv McLean overlap, saw him race in behind and pick out Dan Mason with a cross that was flicked goalwards, but the Horndean keeper smothered it.   The home keeper presented Sami with the ball outside the box, he passed to Worty who fired over.

After the first drinks break, Sholing took the lead on 29 minutes.  Sami Makhloufi fed LEE WORT on the right edge of the box, he checked inside past his marker and fired in low past the keeper at his near post.   The action remained quite even for the remainer of the half, but without either keeper being tested.   HT 0-1

The Boatmen dominated possession after the restart as both sides made multiple changes and rolling subs were also sensibly allowed by the referee. There were a few close calls in and around the Horndean box, but it took until 62 minutes for Sholing to get an effort on target and it was worth the wait.  CONOR WHITELEY collected the ball on the left edge of the penalty area, opened up his body and hit a low curling effort beyond the keeper and into the far corner.

Horndean had a shot comfortably saved by Gosney and one blazed over from a good position.  A clearance out of the box fell to Jake Cope and he fired the ball back in, but narrowly wide of the upright.  A good workout against one of the stronger Wessex Prem sides and more minutes in the legs as we build up to the new season.  FT 0-2