Lymington Town 1-1 Sholing

Scorers : Mitchell Speechley-Price 82 (pen)  /  Jake Cope 4

Date: Saturday 28 January 2023, 3:00pm – Southern League Division 1 South

Venue: Sports Ground  Attendance: 127

Lymington Town : Amadeusz Skrzyniarz, Jack Seddon, Luke Bennett, Rian Drake, Shawn Joseph, Tom Andrews (Owen Fee 71), Luke Gray, Lewis Waterfield, Mitchell Speechley-Price ©, Jireh Oyebamiji, Jamie Beasley. Unused subs : Harrison Cable, Ryan Hughes, Josh Buckland, Dylan Walker

Bookings : Jack Seddon, Luke Gray, Lewis Waterfield, Tom Andrews

Sholing : Ryan Gosney, TJ Cuthbertson, Marv McLean, Rob Flooks, Dan Miller, Leon Baker, Wayne Robinson, Byron Mason ©, Dan Mason, Lee Wort, Jake Cope (Sami Makhloufi 76).  Unused subs : Josh Batt, Dean Frampton, Owen Roundell, Charlie Wagstaffe

Bookings :  Leon Baker, Marv McLean, Ryan Gosney

Boatmen extended our unbeaten run to 12 games, but had to settle for one point after dominating the game.

Team News : Brad Targett missed out through suspension, so Wayne Robinson came into the starting line up, as did Jake Cope at the expense of Sami.

It was a dry but chilly day as we got underway, and for the 7th time this season, we scored inside the opening 5 minutes.  Byron flicked on a header to Lee Wort, who backheeled into the path of Wayne Robinson who advanced into the centre of the box, appeared to be tripped, but the penalty wasn't required as the ball broke to JAKE COPE to bury his 8th goal of the season.

Sholing continued on the front foot, with Lee Wort cutting across the box and hitting a well struck curling effort towards the top corner that the keeper did well to push away.  Then Byron found himself unmarked in the box to try a looping header that was claimed under the crossbar.

It was one way traffic towards the Lymington goal, with Wayne Robinson in particular, causing the home defence problems down the right flank with his pace and trickery.  Several times, Wayne got to the byline, but his cut-backs just evaded teammates in the middle.

Jake Cope's corners were also on the money, with one flashing across the goalline and somehow missing both sets of players as it grazed the far post.   The ball dropped to TJ on the edge of the 6 yard box and his fierce shot from close range was saved. Dan Mason tried a shot on the spin, but couldn't connect with the ball falling to Byron, who fired over.

Apart from a shot that skewed horribly wide, there was little attacking threat from Lymington, but they must have been relieved to be only a goal down at the break.  HT 0-1

Game was less open from a Sholing point of view after the restart, as lengthy stoppages in play became the norm. Boatmen still had chances from set-pieces, with the ball just not dropping to a player in black & white during several goalmouth scrambles.

Leon Baker found himself pushed into the pitchside fence, but he was the one who received a yellow card for a reaction that appeared lesser than the foul.

The home side were awarded a penalty on 80 minutes, when a player was clipped as he advanced into the box down the right.  Gosney went the right way, but Speechley-Price's spot kick snuck just inside the post. 

The final 10 minutes or so saw Sholing throw men forward in search of a winner and came very close twice. A ball into the box skewed off a defenders foot in the 6 yard box and somehow cleared the crossbar.  More corners for the Boatmen in added time caused more scrambles and the final chance of the game saw Rob Flooks unable to make contact with the ball at the far post.  FT 1-1

Dave Diaper : "Great start by the lads and the game could have been won in the first 15 minutes. The second half was all about the referee taking centre stage.  We win, lose or draw as a team and we don't get the 3, we get the 1.  Many thanks to our travelling support for getting behind us and hope to see you all on Tuesday night for our home game versus Cinderford Town"

Next Game : Sholing v Cinderford Town - Tuesday 31 January 7:45pm - Southern League

Photos courtesy of EspieJaz, swipe to view pics :