Hythe & Dibden 2-5 Sholing

Sholing Scorers : Jake Cope 18, Jake Adams 22 & 66, Wayne Robinson 26 & 36

Date: Tuesday 4 July 2023, 7:45pm – Pre-Season Friendly

Sholing Players Used : Jake Adams, Jake Cope, TJ Cuthbertson, Jake Flanningan, Rob Flooks, Charlie Fox, Jake Hesketh, Byron Mason, Marv McLean, Oliver O'Mahony, Sam Pritchard, Wayne Robinson, Owen Roundell, Brad Targett, Charlie Wagstaffe, Theo Widger

Just 48 days since the last season ended, the Boatmen were back for our first pre-season friendly and typically, also the first heavy rain in 48 days, as we started with a win against Wessex Prem side, Hythe & Dibden

The 3 new Jakes all started, Hesketh, Flannigan & Adams and were to all impress on their first appearances.  Byron Mason swept the ball against the post, before the home side hit the crossbar.  H&D took the lead on 11 mins when they broke forward and a shot from the edge of the box was saved by Theo, but the rebound was put in by former Boatmen, Cain Prentice.

We equalised on 18 mins, Jake Adams burst through midfield, exchanged passes with Hesketh before feeding JAKE COPE to curl a lovely shot from inside the area over the keeper and into the far corner.

Robinson & Adams had both gone inches close to scoring before we took the lead on 22 mins.  Jake Cope's low ball across the 6 yard box found JAKE ADAMS arriving beyond the far post, but from a tight angle he steered his shot in. 

4 minutes later, Jake Cope went on a surging run down the left, beating one player before crossing into the middle for WAYNE ROBINSON to score with a nicely taken flick off the outside of his boot.

On 38 minutes, Brad Targett ran from the right flank to the left, got to the byline and his cross was met by WAYNE ROBINSON who bravely slid in at the far post to knock the ball home and collide with the upright, but thankfully, he was fine.   After a rusty start, the new look Boatmen quickly settled down and were knocking the ball around at pace.  HT 1-4

Some more good chances were created early on in the second half as we kept possession for long periods. Jake Flannigan looked to have scored with a dipping shot, but the H&D keeper pulled off an excellent save.   The home side pulled a goal back on 53 mins. A 22 yard freekick was superbly tipped away by Theo Widger, but the loose ball was put back into the middle and flicked home.

On 66 mins, JAKE ADAMS got his second when good work by Wayne Robinson to close down and win the ball off a defender, saw him square to Adams to fire in from 12 yards into the bottom corner.

Three youngsters, who caught Dave Diaper's eye in the recent Sholing Reserves trials, were given a run out in the last 20 minutes as Sholing played keep ball and ticked off our first run out of pre-season.  FT 2-5

Next Game : Sholing v Aldershot Town XI - Tuesday 11 July 7:45pm - Imperial Homes Stadium