Westbury United 3-2 Sholing
Scorers : Matt Morris 57, Harvey Flippance 61, Charlie Walton 70 / Owen Roundell 10, Lee Wort 36
Date: Saturday 8 October 2022, 3pm – Southern League Division 1 South
Venue: Meadow Lane Attendance: 177
Westbury United : Lewis Porter, Aaron Cockerill, Ryan Bole, Emmanuel (Sam Jordan 57), Dan Price ©, Jacob Hutchings, Joseph Stradling, Will Thompson, Harvey Flippance (Conner McKay 90), Charlie Walton, Matt Morris (Ashton Shanley 78 . Unused subs : Kurt James, Ricky Hulbert
Bookings : Will Thompson, Harvey Flippance, Sam Jordan
Sholing : Ryan Gosney, Marv McLean, Jake Cope (Wayne Robinson 82), Owen Roundell, Dan Miller, Rob Nicholls (Josh Batt 52), Lee Wort, Byron Mason © (Josh Batt 26), Dan Mason, Sami Makhloufi, Charlie Wagstaffe. Unused subs : Ryan Cluett, Dean Frampton, Lochlan Colquhoun
Bookings : Josh Batt, Wayne Robinson
After the highs last week of coming from behind to win, today we experienced the lows of letting a lead slip as our unbeaten start to the season came to an end.
Team News : Rob Nicholls returned, with Owen Roundell going into defence with Rob Flooks suspended.
Our first ever visit to Westbury United and we found a picturesque, well kept ground with a very good pitch. Etched into the hill overlooking the ground was the Westbury white horse, where the club gets its nickname from. Conditions were once again perfect as the game got underway in sunny & warm weather with Sholing attacking the clubhouse end.
Was a subdued start to the game from both sides, but Sholing then took the lead on 10 minutes. Sami's right wing corner found OWEN ROUNDELL beyond the far post who controlled and hit a shot that flicked off a defender to go high into the net.
Another deflection almost worked in our favour on 29 mins when Charlie Wagstaffe's effort wrong footed the keeper, but dropped just wide of the post. Home side's best effort was a flick header that flashed across goal, but past the far post. Referee was awarding soft fouls either way to stem the tempo of the game, but the Boatmen were controlling the ball at the back and we went further ahead on 36 minutes.
Sami Makhloufi's ball through the middle saw LEE WORT in a race with the keeper, Lewis Porter was nearest and got there first, but he missed the ball with an attempted clearance, allowing Worty to run beyond him and knock the ball into the empty net for his 13th goal of the season.
Sami & D-Dan both had shots go narrowly over as we ended the half looking in control... HT 0-2
Rob Nicholls went down with an injury 4 minutes after the restart, with Josh Batt coming on to go into defence, with Roundell moving into central midfield. Boatmen went looking for the killer third goal and Charlie Wagstaffe arrived in the box to hit a shot that the third choice Westbury keeper, did well to tip over the bar. Then Lee Wort teed up a volley for himself that dipped a bit too late as it whistled over.
Then out of nothing, Westbury got themselves back in it with a wonder goal. Matt Morris, on his debut, saw Gosney off his line and hit a perfect shot from the half way line, over the head of Gos (who wasn't that far off his line) and under the bar.
We thought we had restored the 2 goal cushion a minute later when Marv raced into the box and cut the ball back for Dan Mason to chest it past the keeper. The celebrations were cut short as the linesman said that D-Dan was offside, despite it looking very much like the cross didn't go forward.
The Westbury goal and our disallowed effort changed the game. The home side looked a different team going forward and a few minutes later were level. A deep corner saw Gosney seemingly get to the ball to claim it and be fouled as it was knocked out his grasp, but no whistle blew and Harvey Flippance was able to score from close range.
Westbury roared forward and completed the comeback on 70 minutes when Charlie Walton was able to turn to get off a shot that fired high past Gos at his near post. We had plenty of time left to get back into the game, but were unable to create a clear chance and the home side almost extended their lead when a shot across goal went inches wide.
We piled bodies into the area and on 92 mins, should have had a penalty when Josh Batt controlled in the box, with the defender clattering into his shin with such force that Josh's boot came flying off. The referee did the Mike Dean exaggerated "No pen" arm waving and the game continued for almost 8 minutes past the 90, but this time, we couldn't muster a late goal. FT 3-2
Dave Diaper : "It wasn’t the result we expected or the one we wanted, but we must move on from our first league defeat of the season. We need to learn from the sh*tstorm of a second half, but I have to give credit where it’s due, a great performance from Westbury in the 2nd half to earn the 3 points"
Next Game : Sholing v Millbrook - Tuesday 11 October 7:45pm - Southampton Senior Cup
Photos courtesy of EspieJaz, swipe to view pics :
