Sholing 1-1 Bideford

Scorers : Dan Mason 25 / Craig Duff-Dick 90 (pen)

Date: Saturday 25 March 2023, 3pm – Southern League Division 1 South

Venue:  Imperial Homes Stadium  Attendance: 269

Sholing : Ryan Gosney ©, Wayne Robinson (Byron Mason 69), Dean Frampton (Sami Makhloufi 62), TJ Cuthbertson, Rob Flooks, Leon Baker,  Owen Roundell, Charlie Wagstaffe, Dan Mason, Lee Wort, Jake Cope (Cohwen Whitaker 74).  Unused subs : Sam Mould, Josh Batt

Bookings : Wayne Robinson, Dean Frampton, Rob Flooks, Leon Baker, Lee Wort.  Red Card : Ryan Gosney

Bideford : Adam Seedhouse Evans, Kyle Paine, Alex Byrne, Joseph Charles (Ben Wood 80), Charlie Madden, Ben Gerring, Jack Winsor (Blake Shapland 84), Aaron Taylor ©, Lewis Brooks (Craig Duff-Dick 69), Archie Reay, Javan Wright.  Unused subs : Ashley Mitchell, Jamie Hearsey

Bookings : Ben Gerring, Craig Duff-Dick

Man of the Match : Ryan Gosney

It was "as you were" in the title race as a depleted Sholing side were denied a win by a late penalty.  Gosney saved a spot kick in the 1st half, just before Dan Mason put us in front, but a hotly contested 90th minute penalty crept in to even up the game.

Team News : It was another case of who we had fit enough to play, as Marv McLean & Jordan Rose joined Dan Miller out injured. Things weren't helped by Josh Batt pulling up in the warm-up.  Byron was named on the bench, but wasn't going to be used, although he had to come on in the end.  Brad Targett was unavailable and Dom Panesar-Dower decided to play for Shaftsbury.  Bideford put out a stronger side than the one that conceded 8 at Totton last week.

The visitors started the better on a cloudy day with a gusty wind blowing up the length of the pitch.  Boatmen were being caught out by the aforementioned wind, over hitting a few balls down the channel, that raced out of play.

Took until 20 mins for our first effort on goal, Dan Mason showing good control to open up space for a shot that was blocked.    The game livened in the space of a few minutes as firstly Bideford were awarded a penalty.  A Bideford player rode two challenges as he raced towards the box and went shoulder to shoulder with Deano. The little amount of contact seemed to be outside, but the player went to ground inside the area and the ref pointed to the spot.  Reay hit his effort towards the corner, but Ryan Gosney did brilliantly to dive full length to tip the ball round the post.

It woke Sholing up and we took the lead 2 minutes later.  DAN MASON collected the ball out on the right touchline, beat a man on the line and whipped over a cross-cum-shot that floated over the keeper and into the far corner for D-Dan's 23rd goal of the season.

Charlie Wagstaffe smashed a vicious 25 yard volley that went narrowly over and then Wayne Robinson appeared to receive a two handed push as he broke into the box, but nothing was given. That was also the case when Roundell appeared to be dragged down by the neck in the penalty area by a Bideford defender.   HT 1-0

A succession of quick passes down the left wing by Bideford wasn't matched by the finish as their forward poked wide of the near post when well placed.   The vistors then rattled the crossbar with a thumping header as Sholing struggled to create much going forward.  

Jake Cope curled an effort wide and it was still a case of some careless passing by the Boatmen as the game was more stop than start after a succession of yellow cards. With Wayne on a yellow and looking as though his enthusiasm might pick up another, Byron came on for the last 20 minutes to slot into defence.

It looked as though we would see out the game, but in the 90th minute, the referee awarded Bideford a second penalty.  A side foot volley was blasted at TJ from one foot away and the referee pointed to the spot and to confuse everyone further, booked Rob Flooks.  Craig Duff-Dick took the penalty that squirmed under Gosney and dribbled into the net.  A clearly frustrated Gos, kicked the post before picking up the ball and kicking it downfield, but it accidently hit the back of the ref who immediately pulled out a red card.

Sami Makhloufi went in goal for the 9 minutes of added time. There were a couple of nervy moments at the back but we were able to hang on for the point.  In total, 8 names went in the Referee's book in a game that never felt in anyway dirty or out of control.

With Totton also drawing at home, there was no change to the top of the league as we made it 33 consecutive weeks in top spot.  As today showed, things are never as straight forward as you think in football.    FT 1-1

Dave Diaper : "No complaints at all with the 1-1 draw, I thought it was a fair reflection of the game.  However, it was unfortunate that most of the talk from the supporters would be about the man in the middle, rather than about both teams"

Next Game : Larkhall Athletic v Sholing - Saturday 1 April 3pm - Southern League

Photos courtesy of EspieJaz, swipe to view pics :