Sholing 1-0 Slimbridge

Scorers : Dan Mason 2

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

Venue:  Imperial Homes Stadium  Attendance: 147

Sholing : Ryan Gosney, TJ Cuthbertson, Brad Targett (Wayne Robinson 64), Rob Flooks, Dan Miller, Owen Roundell (Charlie Wagstaffe 86), Marv McLean, Byron Mason ©, Dan Mason, Lee Wort, Jake Cope (Cohwen Whitaker 82).  Unused subs : Sami Makhloufi, Josh Batt

Bookings : Brad Targett

Slimbridge : Luke Bell, Jacob Geddes, Ben Prictor (Edjidja Mbunga 78), Myron Turner ©, Nathan Dennis, Toby Lawrence, Rudi McKinnon, Ben Hands, Will Hawes (James Sunley 64), Levi Francis (Ethan Dunbar 64), Marley Thomas. Unused subs : Joseph Shutt

Bookings : Ben Prictor, Toby Lawrence, Ben Hands

Man of the Match : Ryan Gosney

Dan Mason's 2nd minute header was enough to secure the Boatmen's 14th win of the season in a hard fought game against Slimbridge.

Team News : Marv McLean returned to the starting line-up, with Sami on the bench in the only change.

Was a bitterly cold afternoon at the Imperial Homes Stadium, with the new range of bobble hats very much needed by supporters (£14 each from the clubhouse bar!).  For the 5th time this season, we scored inside the opening 5 minutes. Firstly, a corner from Jake Cope was met by Dan Miller with a downward header that the keeper tipped over the bar. From the resultant corner, Copey's delivery was met with a powerful header by DAN MASON with the ball beating the keeper under his crossbar.  D-Dan's 16th goal of the season. 

On 16 minutes, it probably should have been 2-0 as Roundell fired across goal from the left, the ball deflected into the path of Rob Flooks at the far post, but he shot over from close range.

It was our 4th encounter with Slimbridge this season and the visitors grew into the game, with Prictor firing across Gosney, but wide in the 19th minute.   On 32 mins, a high press from Slimbridge forced us into a defensive mistake, with the ball being presented to McKinnon with Gosney out of position, but able to block the first effort, with the rebound being put wide of a gaping goal.

Byron Mason showed good skill to control a dropping ball and get off a first time powerful shot from 20 yards, that the keeper did well to save.

Just before the break, Dan Mason found himself on the left edge of the box and hit a low curling effort that seemed to take everyone by surprise as it smacked against the base of the far post and was cleared.  HT 1-0

Slimbridge were on the front foot from the restart, with Hawes finding space in the box to glance a header that Gosney got down to save.

Ryan Gosney pulled off a double save on 63 minutes, firstly pushing out a low ball into the 6 yard box from the left flank, the follow up was then blocked by TJ and the 3rd Slimbridge attempt saw Francis curl an effort that Gos did brilliantly to tip over the bar.

We were limited in the amount of chances we were creating, but the introduction of Wayne Robinson, added some pace and directness and a couple of times he got beyond his man, only to be fouled.   Slimbridge appealed loudly for handball near our goalline as the ball was blocked and hacked clear as the visitors looked far better than their current bottom of the table position would suggest. 

Once again, top v bottom in this division is definitely no guarantee of an easy match.  You have to earn every win.

The final minutes saw Slimbridge push more players forward, but the Sholing defence kept them at bay and we had a couple of breakaway chances through Cohwen Whitaker and Lee Wort, but the finish was missing in each case.

6 minutes of added time were played, but the final whistle made it 6 wins on the bounce and 5 clean sheets in this recent good run for the Boatmen.  FT 1-0

Dave Diaper : "In summary, we turned up, scored early, didn’t make the most of early chances and worked hard to stay with the 1-0 advantage. We saw the game out, gave more minutes to a promising 17 year old, got the 3 points and it's another game ticked off.  Credit to Slimbridge for their performance.

Next Game : Hamworthy United v Sholing - Saturday 10 December 3pm - Southern League

Photos courtesy of EspieJaz, swipe to view pics :