AFC Portchester 2-0 Sholing

Date: Tuesday 25 July 2023, 7:45pm – Pre-Season Friendly

Sholing Players Used : Jake Adams, TJ Cuthbertson, Jake Flanningan, Rob Flooks, Charlie Fox, Dean Frampton, Ryan Gosney, Jake Hesketh, Marv McLean, Sam Mould, Oliver O'Mahony, Wayne Robinson, Dylan Sadler, Brad Targett, Charlie Wagstaffe, Cohwen Whittaker

Boatmen were defeated at AFC Portchester through two second half goals.

We were without, Byron, D-Dan, Copey, Miller & Roundell, but Jake Hesketh played the first half and Wags was back from holiday.  Sholing legend, Lee Wort, was playing for Portchester and it felt strange to see him line up against us. Mark Gamble took charge of the side with the Diapes away.

Was an open, end to end first half, with Sholing keeping possession well through midfield, but were guilty a couple of times of delaying the final shot or cross, allowing blocks to come in.  Ryan Gosney made two good saves with his feet and another diving save to his right.

Nice link up play saw Brad Targett burst past a couple of challenges as he advanced into the box, but his shot was blocked by a last ditch tackle.  Rob Flooks had a header saved and from another corner, an effort was kicked off the line by a Portchester defender.

Jake Flannigan went on a twisting run into the box from the right flank, seemed to be tripped, but the referee rather harshly gave handball against him as he fell onto the ball. Lee Wort raced through, but slid the ball wide of the post before missing another opportunity soon after.  HT 0-0

We should have taken the lead early in the second half when Wayne Robinson passed to Oliver O'Mahony in space inside the box, but he opted against a first time shot, cutting back onto his left and firing straight at the keeper.

Robinson was working hard up front on his own and got into a good position down the right flank, but to continue the theme for us tonight, didn't get a shot away quick enough.

As the substitutions came from Sholing, Portchester took the lead on 63 minutes as Marley Ridge's shot inside the box took a big deflection to wrong foot Gosney.

From that point on, the home side were rampant and could have scored a few more. Worty hit the post and blazed over a couple shots when you'd expect to see the net bulge, he wasn't to be his night, but his new team got a deserved second with 4 mins to go when a diagonal found George Barker to control well and hit an angled shot across Gos and into the far corner.  FT 2-0

Next Game : Cirencester Town v Sholing - Saturday 29 July 3pm