Sholing 2-1 Salisbury
Scorers : Wayne Robinson 7, Dan Mason 55 / Sam Pritchard OG 90+9
Date: Tuesday 26 September 2023, 7:45pm – Southern League Premier South
Venue: Imperial Homes Stadium Attendance: 246
Sholing : Ryan Gosney, Marv McLean (Sam Pritchard 93), Jake Adams, Brad Targett, Rob Flooks, Jake Hesketh (Adam Payce 77), Lloyd Isgrove, Owen Roundell, Dan Mason ©, Jake Cope (Ryan Harfield 88) Wayne Robinson. Unused subs : Fin Du Port, Charlie Fox
Bookings : Jake Hesketh, Lloyd Isgrove
Salisbury : Josh Gould, Jamar Smith (Aaron Simpson 56), Josh Sommerton, Thomas Leggett, Sido Jombati ©, Charlie Gunson, Josh Hedges, Aaron McCreadle, Josh Squires (Devon Arnold 62), Ryan Penny, Noah Coppin. Unused subs : Carson Arnold, Ernest Osei, Thomas Bragg
Bookings : Jamar Smith, Sido Jombati, Josh Squires, Noah Coppin
Boatmen put in a fantastic team performance to cause an upset and hand 4th place Salisbury their first defeat of the season. Jake Hesketh set up both goals, crossing for Wayne Robinson to head home and then feeding Dan Mason to blast in. We defended strongly all game and deservedly got back to winning ways.
Team News : The skipper, Byron Mason, missed out, as did Charlie Wagstaffe, Charlie Davis, Jake Flannigan, Dan Miller, Pete Castle & TJ Cuthbertson. It meant yet another patched up defence, with Marv switching to right back, Jake Adams at left back and Brad Targett joining Flooksy in the middle. Making his debut was new signing, Lloyd Isgrove, the former Saints, Swindon & Bolton Wanderers player, who must have become the first Full International (one cap for Wales) to play for Sholing. The bench was filled with youngsters, with the average age being 18 across the five lads.
Sholing started on the front foot, playing with a high intensity and quickly closing down Salisbury. Dan Mason connected cleanly with a half volley just outside the box, but the keeper was relieved the ball sped straight at him to save. However, he was picking the ball out the net soon after...
Jake Adams dispossessed a Salisbury player in midfield and exchanged passes with Jake Hesketh, who turned past the right back and lifted a peach of a cross into the middle for WAYNE ROBINSON to power home a header from 6 yards,
Jake Cope cut across the outside of the box and let fly with a fierce left foot shot that the keeper tipped over the bar. Josh Gould bettered that save on 25 minutes when Lloyd Isgrove showed his tenacity and pace to get to the byline and cut back to Dan Mason who shot using the outside of his boot, but Gould did very well to get down at the base of his near post to tip it round.
Salisbury came more into it as the first half progressed, a neat run and pass on the overlap saw a fired in cross evade any of the forwards in the middle. Marv made a great block when Salisbury appeared to be in on the left side of the box and that was typical of the defending on show as despite their pressure, the visitors didn't manage a meaningful effort on target. HT 1-0
As expected, Salisbury came out looking determined to up their performance, but still found a Sholing defence putting bodies on the line to thwart them. The game was held up for a bit after Gos accidently pulled a bit of the goalnet away from the top corner. Byron Mason came off the sidelines to give a lift up to Jake Adams to make the repair.
Jake Adams then intercepted a ball upfield from Salisbury and quickly found Jake Hesketh in the middle of the pitch with room ahead of him, it looked like he'd have a shot, but instead fed the ball into the feet of DAN MASON, who took a touch and slammed a shot goalwards from 15 yards that had too much power for the keeper to stop.
With a 2 goal lead against a good side and after a wretched run of 5 league defeats in a row, Sholing did what any team would do in that situation and defended deeply and looked to hit on the counter. Brad Targett was having an immense game at the back and all his teammates were putting in a shift to keep Salisbury at bay.
The closest Salisbury came to scoring was on 68 mins when the ball pinged back off the upright. The Whites had a lot of the ball and there were several nearly moments, but Gosney wasn't really pushed into a big save and dealt with everything in his usual calm manner.
The large number of visiting supporters were trying to put the referee under pressure with some loud handball claims, but the ref was having a good game and waved away the hopeful appeals. Wayne Robinson & Dan Mason were working the length of the pitch to chase lost causes and defend from the front and Owen Roundell was looking strong sat in front of the defence.
There really wasn't a foot put wrong by any Sholing player, so it was gutting for sub, Sam Pritchard that in the 9th minute of added time he's attempted clearance found the far corner past Gos for an own goal. However, it wasn't to matter and all his teammates were quick to celebrate the excellent win with Sam as the final whistle blew. FT 2-1
Dave Diaper : What a great performance from the lads against, arguably, the best side we have faced so far this season. Goals from Wayne & D-Dan saw us through, but everyone to a man worked hard and our low block was impressive. An unfortunate own goal by Sam deep into added time made it a little bit nervy, but we saw the game out and deserved the much needed three points.
Next Game : Sholing v Hanwell Town - Saturday 30 Sept 3pm - Southern Premier
Photos courtesy of EspieJaz, swipe to view pics :
