Sholing 1-1 Bideford

Scorers :  Stu Green 10  /  Theo Simpson 46

Date: Saturday 15th January 2022, 3pm – Southern League South Division 1

Venue:  Mackoy Stadium

Sholing: Ryan Gosney, Ryan Cluett (Jack Mann 88) Marv McLean, Owen Roundell, Dan Miller, Rob Nicholls, Brad Targett, Byron Mason ©, Dan Mason, Stu Green (Conor Whitelely 77), Sami Makhloufi (Claudio Herbert 68).  Unused subs : Tomasz Gruzewski, Luke Deacon

Yellow Card:  Marv McLean

Bideford: Adam Seedhouse-Evans, Niall Heeney, Alex Byrne, Kai Fisher, Toby Down, Alex Moyse, Joe Charles, George Nancekivell ©, Craig Duff, Theo Simpson (Matt Buchan 70), Javan Wright (Ben Wood 84). Unused subs : Harry Hodges, Lewis Wilson

Yellow Card : Craig Duff & Alex Moyse

Referee:  Niall Clinton   Assistants: Jonathan Pike & Anthony Smith

Attendance: 151

We extended our unbeaten run to 9 games, but had to settle for a point against a battling Bideford side.  The 18th placed side at start of play frustrated the Boatmen, who despite a bright start & early goal by Stu Green, struggled to create enough chances to force a win.

Team News :  Byron Mason returned to the side, although not fully fit, with Josh Batt likely to be missing with an injury for a few weeks. Ryan Cluett returned at right back, with Tom Gruzweski dropping to the bench, where he was joined by Conor Whiteley.  Joe Adams was having a trial at a League One side, good luck to him.

Boatmen started brightly, immediately finding gaps in the channels and getting in behind the visitors. From one such opening, Greener fed Brad Targett, who was a bit unbalanced in the middle of the box and could only scoop his shot straight at the keeper.   STU GREEN was stretching the visitors and he put us ahead on 10 minutes. A flick put Greener in behind and he composed himself as he raced into the box, drilling a low shot through the keeper's legs. 

I think most fans watching on were expecting Sholing to continue pushing on for more goals in the same fashion, but strangely, the game was allowed to drift, with some playing around at the back, that either led to cheaply giving away possession or putting ourselves into trouble in and around the box.  So, the Boatmen lost the momentum we had and Bideford grew more into the match as the half went on. 

The Bideford keeper did pull off an impressive save on 38 mins when Brad Targett found Dan Mason in the box and his goalbound shot was brilliantly tipped over by Seedhouse-Evans.  Frustrations grew in the Sholing dugout when firstly Marv received a yellow card for a challenge where it appeared to be boot against boot (the sound that makes is usually a giveaway).  Then a minute later, a worse challenge on Marv went without even a talking to from the referee.    HT 1-0

Boatmen were caught cold a minute into the second half as Bideford scored with their first meaningful shot on target.  Well, probably their second as Theo Simpson's initial effort was saved, but it fell back to the newly signed striker to confidently knock in. 

On 57 mins, Dan Mason knocked the ball down by his side for the arriving Stu Green to dig out a curling shot that went narrowly wide.  Sadly, that was to be that for efforts on goal by Sholing who were denied by some hardworking defending and aggressive closing down by Bideford.  The Robins were also doing better than the Boatmen in midfield, with Alex Moyse linking up well with his teammates. Meanwhile, Kai Fisher seemed to clear everything that Sholing put forward.

You never got the feeling that we would snatch a winner and so it was we had to make do with a draw that sees us drop down to 5th in the table, albeit with games in hand on those above us. FT 1-1

Next Game :  Slimbridge v Sholing - Southern League - Saturday 22 January 3pm
Next Home Game : Sholing v AFC Totton - Southern League - Tuesday 25 January 7:45

Photos courtesy of EspieJaz (swipe to view pics)