Sholing 2-0 Willand Rovers
Scorers : Dan Mason 4, 71 (pen)
Date: Saturday 19 November 2022, 3pm – Southern League Division 1 South
Venue: Imperial Homes Stadium Attendance: 220
Sholing : Ryan Gosney, TJ Cuthbertson, Brad Targett, Rob Nicholls, Dan Miller ©, Rob Flooks, Wayne Robinson (Sami Makhloufi 84) Owen Roundell, Dan Mason, Lee Wort, Jake Cope (Cohwen Whitaker 65). Unused subs : Josh Batt, Lochlan Colquhoun, Callum Jones
Bookings : Dan Miller, Brad Targett
Willand Rovers : George Burton, Adam Kelly, Will Richards, Adam Poole, Kieran Bailey ©, Ryan Guppy, Douglas Camilo (Josh Baker 62), Ashton Hewitt, Lewis Hill, Dan Koita, Bailey Kempster. Unused subs : Josh Searle, Sullivan McKenna, David Steele
Bookings : Kieran Bailey
BK Investments Man of the Match : Dan Miller
Dan Mason scored a brace in his 501st game for the Boatmen as we made it 3 wins and 3 cleansheets in a row to stay 7 points clear at the top of the league.
Team News : Sholing were unchanged from the Lymington game, which meant Byron & Marv still missed out with injury, meanwhile Charlie Wagstaffe was ill (Get well soon Wags).
It was dry, but certainly the first game of the season with a definite chill in the air. The Sholing support were soon warmed up by celebrating a goal after just 4 minutes. Rob Flooks long ball saw DAN MASON beat the offside trap, control and smash a fierce shot from the edge of the box high into the net.
We had another good chance soon after, this time down the left as Brad Targett seemed caught in two minds between lifting the ball over the advanced keeper or trying to find Lee Wort arriving in the box, but sadly neither occurred as the ball went past the far post.
Willand grew into the game, keeping hold of possession and it took an excellent last ditch block by Flooksy to deny a goalscoring chance on 20 mins. Rovers continued to have more of the ball and use it better than the Boatmen were, although their attacks would mostly break down around our box.
On the half hour mark, Dan Miller appeared to win the ball cleanly in the centre circle, but the quick surrounding of the referee by the Willand players put the official under pressure and he gave the captain an undeserved yellow card.
We were a bit sloppy with the ball, both with passing and with clearances, meaning we created nothing more in the first half and Willand came closest to scoring when an angled shot deflected off a Boatmen and went narrowly wide. HT 1-0
We looked more like our usual selves after the restart and went close to extending our lead. Firstly, a Jake Cope low delivery from a corner found Dan Mason who spun to hit first time, forcing the keeper into a good save. Then Lee Wort ran down the left channel, cut in and tried a curling effort towards the far corner, but Burton palmed out the effort, the ball fell to D-Dan, but off balance, he couldn't get his effort on target.
On 64 minutes, Cohwen Whitaker came on to make his debut. The 17 year old, a former academy player at Portsmouth FC, was immediately into the action, hitting a curling shot from the left side of the area, that was pushed up into the air by the keeper, Owen Roundell came in with a header, that somehow didn't go in and with Sholing players queuing up to knock in the rebound, Dan Mason was fouled as he tried to score with the referee pointing to the penalty spot.
DAN MASON stepped up for the spot kick and although the keeper guessed the right way, D-Dan's effort was beyond him in flash as he powerfully scored his 12th goal of the season.
As per the first half, Willand's approach play wasn't matched by a threat around the box as the Boatmen looked to close out another clean sheet. Cohwen Whitaker was having a lively debut, the ball fell to him with the keeper out his goal, but his lifted attempt drifted away past the far post.
Gos was claiming and punching well from Willand corners and his only other serious action was in the 77th minute to dive to his left and keep a tight grasp on the ball. Wayne Robinson raced into the box and went down under a heavy challenge, but the ref waved away the penalty appeals.
Whitaker had a great chance to score right at the end of the game, when the defence opened up for him, but he placed his shot straight at the keeper.
Boatmen weren't at our best today, but a win is a win, our 11th out of 14 games played so far this season. Just keep on picking up the 3 points and lets see where it takes us! FT 2-0
Dave Diaper : "I'm not going to lie, going into this game, with key players missing and knowing that Willand have improved massively since last season I was a bit sceptical of getting a positive result. However, fair play to my boys who dug in, worked hard and got the deserved 3 points"
Next Game : Melksham Town v Sholing - Tuesday 22 November 7:45pm - Southern League
