Slimbridge 0-0 Sholing

Scorers :

Date: Saturday 3 September 2022, 3pm – Emirates FA Cup First Round Qualifying

Venue:  Thornhill Park

Slimbridge : Lewis Adams, Jacob Geddes, Toby Lawrence, Myron Turner ©, Nathan Dennis, Ben Hands, Brad Bevan, James Sunley, Edjija Mbunga, Ethan Dunbar, Marley Thomas.  Subs : Zak Mitchell, Dan Troke, Jack Holmes, Ben Prictor, Joe Shutt, Dylan Lewis, Brandon Barnes

Bookings : ?

Sholing : Ryan Gosney, Brad Targett (Tomasz Gruzweski 44), Marv McLean, Owen Roundell, Dan Miller ©, Rob Flooks, Conor Whiteley (Wayne Robinson 64), Robin Nicholls, Dan Mason, Sami Makhloufi, Charlie Wagstaffe (Dom Panesar-Dower 68).  Unused subs : Josh Batt, Dean Frampton, Jake Cope, Stu Green

Bookings :  Dan Mason

Attendance: 96

Referee : Said Ouchene  Assistants : Richard Wood & Mark Loughlin

Man of the Match : Dan Miller

Both sides will have to do it all again for the 3rd time this season, after neither side could find a way to score in an FA Cup stalemate at Slimbridge.

Team News : Byron Mason missed out through injury, Lee Wort & Ryan Cluett were unavailable. Conor Whiteley came in for Worty & Owen Roundell started at the back.  Before the game, Diapes described this as one of the hardest possible cup ties for us, having so recently played & beaten Slimbridge.

It was around 15 degrees cooler than our previous meeting 2 weeks ago, plus the other biggest change was the pitch had recovered remarkably well after some much needed rain.  There had been a shower an hour before kick off and the home side looked hungry to get stuck into Sholing as they looked sharper than us during the opening exchanges.

Ryan Gosney was called into action on 9 minutes, pushing a shot away from danger.  5 minutes later and Slimbridge were awarded a penalty when the Referee adjudged a ball fired from close range had struck a Sholing arm.  Ben Hands took the spot-kick with Gosney going the right way and looked as though he would save it, but he wasn't needed as the ball rolled wide of the post.

Rob Nicholls didn't connect cleanly when found in the box as it took a while for Sholing to get into gear.  We looked better when Sami was on the ball and he worked space inside the box, perhaps took one touch too many as his eventual shot was deflected wide.  From the corner the ball was cleared off the line and we had two very similar handball shouts to the one given to the home side, but the Referee wasn't interested.  He also missed Dan Miller getting a kick in the face, which with his 6'5" frame, you'd say was probably a high boot!  Again, nothing from the official as it took a while to stem the bleeding from Dan's nose.

With Miller still getting attention on the sidelines, Brad Targett pulled up and had to be replaced by Tomasz Gruzewski on the right.  HT 0-0

Boatmen looked to make the breakthrough early in the second half, with Rob Flooks having a left foot shot saved before Dan Mason got between the last defender and the keeper as the ball dropped, he lifted it over Lewis Adams, but the ball dropped onto the roof of the net.  Then Sami had a shot well saved.

Slimbridge were also looking dangerous in and around our box, with their Number 8 pulling the strings in midfield and linking up well with their wide players.  Dom Panesar-Dower had come on for Charlie Wagstaffe and came closest to scoring when he hit a first time half volley from outside the box that hit the base of the post.

Gosney had to make a save as the game approached the final moments.  Sami was once again denied by a good tip over the bar by Adams, who followed it up from the corner by beating away a Dan Miller header.

It was a real heart in mouth moment, 2 minutes into added time, when Gosney came out his area, but could only slice to a Slimbridge player who had a gaping goal to aim at and will be ruing not hitting his effort harder as Dan Miller did brilliantly to slide in and divert the ball away for a corner.

The final whistle blew, giving the Boatmen our 3rd clean sheet in a row and another chance to advance in the FA Cup in Tuesday night's replay at the Imperial Homes Stadium. FT 0-0

Dave Diaper : "Just got over the line today against Slimbridge. Not a good day at the office and to be fair, Slimbridge looked the better side in the 2nd half. Now to regroup and go again on Tuesday. Still in the hat!"

Next Games : Sholing v Slimbridge - Tuesday 6 September - FA Cup Replay

Sholing v Lymington Town - Saturday 10 September - FA Trophy