Hamble Club 2-1 Sholing
Scorers : Sam Woodward 32 & 45 / Stu Green 53
Date: Saturday 17 July 2021, 3pm – Pre-Season Friendly
Venue: The Abbey
Sholing: Luke Deacon, Yumo Wan, Jo Smith, Mitch Byrne, Dan Miller [c], Martin Buckland, Charlie Wagstaffe, Jack Barnes, Claudio Herbert, Stu Green, Conor Whiteley. Rolling Subs used : Nathan Gray, Rafael Ramos, Joe Adams
Attendance: Approx 100
Referee: Derek Pratt
Sholing were defeated in our second pre-season game at a sunbaked Hamble Club as mistakes dominated proceedings in a slow paced game.
Boatmen had 7 first team players unavailable, with the hosts also light on numbers, it was a chance for a few youngsters to get a full game and minutes in the legs. With temperatures in the high 20s, the referee sensibly allowed rolling subs and drinks breaks. Most spectators took advantage of the shade on the stand side of the pitch.
The first half hour was uneventful until Hamble took the lead on 31 minutes. Sholing had got away with some sloppy play around the edge of their box, but this time we were punished when Hamble won the ball 20 yards out to feed Woodward, who went to the right of the goal, but did well to shoot across Deacon and in off the far post.
This woke the Boatmen up a bit and we created a couple of chances. A Conor Whiteley freekick bounced off the keeper, where Green took it round him and squared across the face of the goal, but Mitch Byrne was unable to make contact at the far post. A nice slotted pass by Claudio to Stu Green saw him race into the box and pull it back for the arriving Charlie Wagstaffe, but his sidefoot effort went wide.
The Monks had gone close a couple of times before they doubled their lead in added time with another well taken goal, but gifted to them by Sholing. More dithering at the back presented Woodward with the ball and he was able to dig out a clever chip over the stranded Deacon and it bounced into the net. HT 2-0
A clearly unhappy Diapes sent his team out demanding a much better second half and it seemed to be more positive when Sholing got a goal back on 53 mins. It was Hamble's turn to lay it on a plate, when a miscontrol allowed STU GREEN in behind and he drew the keeper before slotting into the far corner with a left foot shot. It lifted Sholing and Greener had another good chance soon after. A nicely floated pass over the defence by Claudio found him unmarked, but his header looped over.
With the heat and stoppages for the rolling subs playing their part, the rest of the game never really had any flow from either side, but a positive for Sholing was Joe Adams making his debut, with the teenager looking composed and skilful in midfield. Rafa Ramos looked like Sholing's best option for grabbing an equaliser, he had a couple of shots blocked, before having a cross-cum-shot tipped over the bar by the back peddling keeper. Rafa also had a 22 yard freekick whistle wide, before the last action saw Dan Miller climb highest for a corner, but put his header over. FT 2-1
Thank you to Hamble Club for hosting and good luck for the season.
Next Game : Bashley v Sholing - Tuesday 7:45pm
Photos courtesy of Daniel Haswell