Sholing 1-0 Hayes & Yeading United
Scorer : Jake Cope 43
Date: Sunday 20 August 2023, 3pm – Southern League Premier South
Venue: Imperial Homes Stadium Attendance: 385
Sholing : Ryan Gosney, Jake Flannigan, Brad Targett, Pete Castle (Rob Flooks 45), Tyler Edmondson, Charlie Wagstaffe, Jake Adams, Owen Roundell, Dan Mason ©, Wayne Robinson 70, Jake Cope (Alex Sawyer 75). Unused subs : Charlie Fox, Byron Mason, Ryan Harfield
Bookings : Owen Roundell, Brad Targett, Wayne Robinson
Hayes & Yeading United : Jacob Adams, Cole Brown, Jack Williams, Tarik Moore-Azille, Jerry Wiltshire, Omar Rowe, Sam Ashton (Steve Ngunga 58), Adam Liddle, Hassan Jolloh, Amos Nasher Junior © (Jamie Hanlon 58), Taylor Miles. Unused subs : Simon Grant, Lene Burden, Ben Shroll
Bookings : Jack Williams, Tarik Moore-Azille, Omar Rowe, Taylor Miles
Imperial Homes Man of the Match : Jake Adams
The Boatmen fought hard for the win in our first ever home game at Step 3. Jake Cope scored just before half time as the lads worked their socks off in the second half to deservedly get the clean sheet and 3 points.
Team News : Jake Hesketh was suspended and Byron Mason missed out, as did Marv & Dan Miller. Pete Castle returned to the starting line up to partner Tyler Edmondson with Owen Roundell going into midfield. Was great to see Rob Flooks back in the squad. Hayes & Yeading had Omar Rowe in their line up, who last played here for Southampton in a pre-season friendly in 2012.
It was a gorgeous sunny day, with the Imperial Homes Stadium looking in great shape on and off the pitch. A signifcant number of ground improvements welcomed a good crowd of supporters, with more to come soon. Hayes & Yeading brought a good number of fans down from Middlesex for the first ever encounter between the two clubs. The visitors have a rich history in league & FA Cup and since their merger have been as high as the National League, so it was another new challenge for the Boatmen to face such a large club at this level.
Sholing went close to scoring in the 5th minute when Jake Adams's excellent delivery from corners, this time found Owen Roundell at the far post, but his effort was blocked and scrambled away near the line. Charlie Wagstaffe tried his luck from distance, but the shot was off target.
The visitors were clearly concerned about the pace of Wayne Robinson, manhandling him at every opportunity, including off the ball when we broke forward. H&Y had a shot flash across the face of goal by Liddle, but Gos was waving it wide all the way. Tyler Edmondson got in a vital block as the visitors started to get their game going.
Ryan Gosney pulled off a brilliant save on 25 mins when a lay-off to Miles on the edge of the box saw him connect with a vicious shot that Gos reacted to with a strong right hand to deflect the ball skywards and then be alert to claim it as it dropped.
Referee finally had enough of the off-the-ball blocks & shirt pulls on Robinson and showed a yellow to the H&Y offender. As the half drew to a close, Sholing regained the momentum. Dan Mason fired a freekick into the wall, with Brad Targett hitting the rebound wide.
Sholing made the breakthrough on 43 mins. Copey intercepted a pass out of defence, fed the ball to Dan Mason who hit a powerful low shot from 20 yards that the keeper did well to tip onto the base of the post, but JAKE COPE was in on the rebound to slot home his 3rd goal of the season! There was a blow straight away as Pete Castle had to go off with an injury, but Flooksy came on for 3 mins of added time. HT 1-0
Second half started brightly for Sholing with Brad Targett winning the ball on the half way line before charging down the left wing, show pace & strength to get beyond the defence and put over an inviting cross into the 6 yard box, but no one was there to take advantage.
The game then entered a scrappy spell with both midfields cancelling each other out and neither attack able to keep possession in the final third.
Hayes & Yeading had a half chance when a curling ball into the box from the right flank got behind the Sholing back line, but Liddle was unable to direct it goalwards as it skimmed off his head and went harmlessly wide.
The visitors went closest to scoring when a quickly taken corner caught everyone out with the low cross to the near post evading Gosney, but skipper, Dan Mason, was on the line to deflect it back to Gos to dive on it with a wry smile.
Boatmen were working incredibly hard to close H&Y down, get in blocks and tackles, so the visitors never built any momentum. United didn't help their cause by a number of overhit final passes as the clock ticked down.
Sholing might have extended our lead, both times from corners. Firstly Owen Roundell's nod back went wide and then Tyler Edmondson's powerful header went over. Was a strange moment in added time as Gosney got to the ball first and was then caught by Omar Rowe. The referee pulled out a yellow, then a red, then a yellow, as he corrected his original assumption that Rowe had already been booked.
The Boatmen navigated the 9 mins of added time to make it three wins in a row and see ourselves in 6th place in the fledgling Southern Premier table. FT 1-0
Dave Diaper : "I know it's early days, but we've got to be happy with the start we've made to our first ever season at this level. Our win against Hayes & Yeading rounded off a very important week, with victories against Winchester City & Plymouth Parkway. H&Y are a very good side, but once again, the lads showed how resilient they are and fought for every ball. We talked about starting well and we scored the all important first goal, which made us more confident on the ball. We had to repel a H&Y 20 minute onslaught, but came through in the end to get the 3 points. Thanks to our fans for their vocal support as well"
Next Game : Merthyr Town v Sholing - Saturday 26 August 3pm - Southern Premier
Next Home Game : Sholing v Gosport - Bank Holiday Monday 28th 3pm - Southern Premier
Photos courtesy of EspieJaz, swipe to view pics :
Highlights courtesy of Charlie Clayton