Lymington Town 2-5 Sholing

Scorers : Luke Churchill 56, Freddie Bullard 61  /  Dan Mason 3 & 67, Sami Makhloufi 7, Owen Roundell 15 & 41

Date: Saturday 8 January 2022, 3pm – Southern League South Division 1

Venue:  The Sports Ground

Lymington Town: Joe Coombes, Rian Drake, Luke Churchill, Bradley Gale (Jason Brookes 46), Ryan Fuller ©, James Gorman, Sam Shearer (Dylan Walker 33), Adam Biss, Brett Williams, Freddie Bullard, Rhys Taylor.  Unused subs : Roy Viner & Noah Pierce

Yellow Card:

Sholing: Ryan Gosney, Tomasz Gruzewski, Marv Mclean, Josh Batt, Dan Miller ©, Rob Nicholls, Brad Targett (Claudio Herbert 83), Owen Roundell, Dan Mason, Stu Green (Joe Adams 73), Sami Makhloufi (Jack Mann 86).  Unused subs : Ryan Cluett & Luke Deacon

Yellow Card : 

Referee:  Alex James   Assistants: Jade Wardle & Adam Hillier

Attendance: 143 (approx 30 Sholing fans)

Man of the Match : Owen Roundell

A blistering first half display by the Boatmen saw us extend our unbeaten run to 8 games and move up to 4th in the league.  Sholing were 3-0 up inside 15 mins and were to lead by 4 at half time thanks to some excellent finishing, including two spectacular goals by Owen Roundell.  Dan Mason also put his mini-drought behind him with a brace, with Sami Makhloufi also getting on the scoresheet as the Boatmen romped to our biggest win of the season.

Team News : Skipper, Byron Mason missed out, so Dan Miller took the captain's armband.  Boatmen were also without the long term injured Charlie Wagstaffe, Jake Cope & Mitch Byrne, while Conor Whiteley was unavailable.   Lymington had quickly drafted in Brett Williams on loan from AFC Totton and he went straight into the line up despite playing the night before for Totton.

The game looked in serious doubt during a morning of heavy rain that put pay to nearly all games on grass pitches in Hampshire & the South West.  However, the Lymington pitch drains very well and both teams were very keen to play, so thankfully the referee let the match go ahead.   Lymo were possibly regretting that decision after 15 minutes when they found themselves 3-0 down.

Having not played for 3 weeks, the Boatmen were hungry from the kick off with Rob Nicholls trying his luck from distance against his old club inside 60 seconds.  Was no surprise when Sholing took the lead on 3 mins with a well made and taken goal.  DAN MASON flicked the ball into the path of Stu Green in the left channel, who sped past the defender and cut the ball back to D-Dan to open his body up and drill past the keeper from 16 yards.

Sholing extended our lead on 7 minutes when SAMI MAKHLOUFI took a freekick that was knocked back to him by Stu Green, Sami advanced, dropped a shoulder and hit a perfectly executed low shot that snuck inside the near post.  The Boatmen were rampant and immediately should have scored again as Rob Nicholls went round the keeper and knocked it into the path of D-Dan, who lifted his effort over a gaping goal.

The pitch was playing surprisingly well, with no standing water and Sholing continued to play at a high tempo and went further in front on 15 minutes with a spectacular goal.  Brad Targett freed Tom Gruzewski on the overlap and the right back put in a dangerous cross into the box that was cleared as far as OWEN ROUNDELL 25 yards out and he belted an unstoppable shot that crashed in via the underside of the crossbar!  A real breathtaking strike.

The game calmed down for a spell, with a shell shocked Lymington unable to make any headway against a Sholing side that were quick to close down with Rob & Owen controlling the midfield.  Sami, Greener & Targett were all stretching the home side with their control and pace with the ball and more half chances came and went before we got the 4th goal five minutes before the break.  Dan Mason put in a cross that was cleared back to him and his first time ball back in picked out OWEN ROUNDELL who, full of confidence from his first goal, took on a left foot volley that flew into the top corner!   Another brilliant finish to bring an emphatic half to an end.  HT 0-4

Stu Green almost got a goal that his play deserved soon after the restart, with his snap shot from inside the box looking to be goalbound, until Coombes made an excellent reaction save to tip it wide.   The Boatmen dropped their tempo and Lymington raised theirs for a spell where they dragged themselves back into the game with two goals.  Both were ones that were disappointing to concede as firstly Luke Churchill's low shot from distance squirmed through Gosney.  Then on 61 mins, Freddie Bullard was allowed to cut in from the left wing and his shot deflected off Nicholls and found its way inside the near post.

It did bring Sholing back to their senses and Sami Makhloufi hit the outside of the post from a narrow angle.  Then D-Dan chested down a corner, before firing just wide.   DAN MASON wasn't to be denied on 65 minutes when he had a couple of bites of the cherry inside the 6 yard box, but showed great strength & determination when surrounded by defenders to keep control of the ball and knock it over the line from close range.  That goal killed off any outside chances of a Lymington comeback and the Boatmen were able to control the remainder of the game and keep the pressure up on the teams at the top as we remain the in-form team in the division right now.  FT 2-5

Thanks to those who came out on a filthy day to support us.

Next Game : Plymouth Parkway v Sholing - Southern League - Tuesday 11 January 7:45pm

Photos courtesy of EspieJaz (swipe to view pics)

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