Hungerford Town 2-1 Sholing

Scorer :  Adulai Sambu 10, Conor McDonagh 26 / Dan Mason 86

Date: Saturday 24 February 2024, 3pm – Southern League Premier South

Venue: Bulpit Lane   Attendance: 392

Hungerford Town: Ryan Clarke, Ramarni Medford-Smith, Baboucarr Jarra, Matt Berry-Hargreaves ©, Sam De St Croix (Fabio Verissimo Lopes 65), Conor McDonagh, Jacob Gardiner-Smith, Elis Watts (Jack Wright 76), Louie Paget, Adulai Sambu (Jack Stanley 69), Joseph Shepherd.  Unused Subs : Lewis Thorne, Elliot Dugan

Booked : Jacob Gardiner-Smith, Joseph Shepherd   Red Card : Ramarni Medford-Smith

Sholing : Ryan Gosney, Brad Targett, Marv McLean, Owen Roundell, George Milner-Smith (Dan Miller 72), Byron Mason ©, Charlie Davis, Keane Anderson, Dan Mason, Jake Hesketh (Lee Wort 46), Karlos Gregory (Destiny Ojo 46).  Unused subs : Alex MacAllister, Leon Baker

Booked : George Milner-Smith, Jake Hesketh, Destiny Ojo

Boatmen were defeated by the odd goal for the 8th time this season, but on this occasion, there was little to argue about as Ryan Gosney made save after save and although Dan Mason scored a worldy late on, we came away empty handed.

Team News : George Milner-Smith & Keane Anderson returned after their suspensions and Dan Miller shook off the injury from last week to take a place on the bench.

Hungerford came roaring out the blocks, pinning Sholing back from the first minute, with Ellis Watts causing a lot of problems for us down the right and after 6 minutes, he beat a couple of players before firing towards the near post for Gosney to make the save. 

Another Hungerford shot went just wide before they were awarded a penalty on 10 minutes for a handball. Ryan Gosney did superb to stick up an arm as he dived to his right, the ball looped beyond the far post, but Hungerford responded the quickest and the ball was hooked back in for Adulai Sambu to nod in unchallenged.  A clearance off the Sholing goal line and another good save by Gos occurred before we had our first attack, but it was a good opportunity to score as Jake Hesketh slid an angled shot that the Hungerford keeper did well to tip round the far post.

Home side doubled their lead on 26 mins when Sholing appeals for offside were ignored, but Watts was still given too much room to cross and pick out the unmarked Conor McDonagh in the middle to sweep home from 10 yards.

Ryan Gosney was saving us from a hammering, making three top saves before half time.  As good as Hungerford were playing, the Boatmen weren't helping ourselves with some careless passing and leaving Dan Mason isolated up top.  Only a run from Brad Targett inside the the left back to force a corner, lifted the spirits, but the set piece came to nothing.  HT 2-0

Lee Wort & Destiny Ojo came on for the restart to give Sholing more support up front for D-Dan, but Hungerford continued to create good chances and were thrwarted time and again by Gosney.  He twice denied the usually lethal Conor McDonagh, the second time as he raced clean through.  Things got worse for us when Dos was shown a red card by the referee.

On 71 mins a Charlie Davis freekick out wide was met by a firm header by Dan Mason that pinged back off the post.  Hungerford were understandably sitting on their lead and Sholing were not really threatening, despite the man advantage, but out of nothing, we got a goal back on 86 mins.

Dan Miller picked out DAN MASON in the box with his back to goal, D-Dan cushioned the ball on his thigh and in one motion, swiveled and smashed in a brilliant volley.  A stunning goal and it gave us hope of stealing a point.  Sadly though, the balls into the box were dealt with by Hungerford and the last action saw Owen Roundell desperately try to slide in at the far post, the ball going off the defender, but the ref blew the final whistle before we could take the corner.  FT 2-1

Dos: "Firstly, well played by Hungerford Town yesterday, probably the best side we've faced going forward in a first half where they played some great football. They were hungrier and worked harder than us and credit to Danny Robinson, his players and coaches. It would have been an injustice if they hadn't have won"

"Sadly, that was the poorest we've played since I've been here. Only Owen, Byron, D-Dan and an incredible 10/10 display by Ryan Gosney, can come away with any credit. It's impossible to get results in this league if half the team doesn't perform as they should. We can't rely on D-Dan & Gosney saving our skin with wonder goals and saves"
 
"It was a sobering performance and one we must learn from and not repeat. It's not a time to panic, but we have the realisation that we need to pick up some wins to push back up the table. We now have 3 home league games in a row and with your support, we can turn this around."

Next Game : Sholing v Dorchester Town - Saturday 2 March 3pm - Southern Premier

Photos courtesy of DB Photography, swipe to view pics :