Slimbridge 1-3 Sholing

Scorers : Ben McLean 67  /  Lee Wort 5, Dan Miller 25, Dan Mason 76

Date: Saturday 13 August 2022, 3pm – Southern League Division 1 South

Venue:  Thornhill Park

Slimbridge : Lewis Adams, Jacob Geddes, Ben Prictor, Myron Turner, Toby Lawrence, Michael Ford, Edjidja Mbunga (Marley Thomas 60), Ben McLean, William Hawes © (Brandon Barnes 79), Dylan Lewis (Ethan Dunbar 60), Joseph Shutt.  Unused subs : Zak Mitchell, Jack Smith

Bookings :

Sholing : Ryan Gosney, Brad Targett (Ryan Cluett 71), Marv McLean, Rob Flooks, Dan Miller, Rob Nicholls, Lee Wort, Byron Mason ©, Dan Mason, Sami Makhloufi (Conor Whiteley 56), Charlie Wagstaffe.  Unused subs : Josh Batt, Dean Frampton, Wayne Robinson

Bookings :

Attendance: 88

Referee : Kieran Forrest  Assistants : Sam Myatt & Daniel Forrester

Man of the Match : Dan Miller

Sholing got the season underway with a deserved win in brutally hot conditions at Slimbridge.

Team News : There was a first team debut for Rob Flooks, meanwhile new signing Wayne Robinson was on the bench.  Owen Roundell, Dom Panesar-Dower & Jake Cope were unavailable & Stu Green out injured. 

Temperature was 34 degrees and rising as the game got underway on a very brown pitch where the only patches of green were inside the 6 yard boxes.  The hardness of the surface was demonstrated early on as a cross from Targett took a wickedly high bounce, but the Slimbridge keeper did well to anticipate it.

It only took LEE WORT five minutes to get off the mark on his return and it was a brilliant goal that he will do well to better all season!  Gosney's kick out was flicked on by Dan Mason into the path of Worty on the right side of the area and he smashed a dipping volley from 25 yards over the keeper!  Stunning finish.

Wort lifted a shot over the bar soon after before the first water break of the game after 15 mins.  There were to be 3 more drink breaks in the game and they were badly needed by the players.  Several of the experienced Boatmen said they had never played in heat this strong before.

Gosney comfortably dealt with Slimbridge's first effort on target, before Sholing doubled our lead on 25 mins. Marv was hauled down and Sami swung in the freekick from the left into the middle of the box where DAN MILLER was on hand to side foot volley high into the net. It was the big defender's first goal since April 2019!

It should have been 3 nil quickly after when Marv put it on a plate for Lee Wort, but he planted a header from close range wide.  Slimbridge forced a couple of corners, but Gos & his defence dealt with them.  The body language of both sets of players as they trudged off with heads down at half time, showed the effects the heat was having.  HT 0-2

It was a scrappy start to the second half as the tempo dropped and the mistakes increased.  Slimbridge made a double change on the hour mark and the fresh legs injected some pace into their attacks as Sholing dropped deeper. Worty had another volley on target, but this time the keeper tipped it over.

The Swans grabbed a goal back on 67 mins.  A quick throw-in released Dunbar down the right and he picked out Ben McLean on the edge of the area and he had time to swivel and hit a low curling effort that sneaked inside the far post.

The goal lifted the home side, who increased the pressure on Sholing.  Dunbar looked to be in behind, but a perfectly timed challenge by Byron Mason, cleared the danger.

Sholing made sure of the three points with 15 mins to go. Conor Whiteley did well as he was falling to poke the ball through the Slimbridge high line to free DAN MASON in on goal. D-Dan rode a wild attempt to hack him down from behind, to go on and draw the keeper and finish with aplomb.

Ford hit a low shot narrowly wide for Slimbridge before Dan Mason thought he had another goal when he hooked the ball over the keeper and watched as Ford cleared off the line.  The Sholing fans behind the goal claimed the ball had gone over, but the officials said no.

The full time whistle brought respite for players and spectators alike from the scorching conditions as Sholing took home the 3 points for a positive start to the season. FT 1-3

Next Game : Sholing v Melksham Town - Tuesday 16 August - Southern League

Friday Night Game : Sholing v AFC Portchester - Friday 19 August - FA Cup

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