Wealdstone 3 – 0 Aldershot Town

C&G Scaffolding

MoM

Mason Barrett

Aldershot Town Website Match Report

Aldershot Town suffered a frustrating Easter Monday on the road, falling to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Wealdstone FC. With Stones goals bookending what was otherwise a largely defensive encounter at Grosvenor Vale, Dom Hutchinson’s 2nd-minute opener was eventually accompanied by late strikes from Ashley Nathaniel-George and Olufela Olomola to give the hosts all three points.

John Coleman named just one change to the side that drew against Sutton United on good Friday, with Sam Inwood coming back into the eleven to replace the suspended Olly Scott.

After kicking off in under a backdrop of glorious April sunshine, the Shots would be the first to test their opposition’s goal, Charlie Warren forging a chance after just seconds as he received the ball from right, proceeding to beat one man and open his body before unleashing a trademark left footed strike from 15-yards, requiring an astute save from the Stones’ stopper, Dante Baptiste.

The hosts would waste no time in their retort, however, as a pinpoint through ball from deep courtesy of Nathan Tshikuna found the feet of Dom Hutchinson, who took one touch before rifling a strike through Coniah Boyce-Clarke and into the roof of the net to put Wealdstone one to the good after a breathless opening 120 seconds.

Warren wouldn’t wait long for his second shot on target, as excellent hold up play from Cameron Hargreaves on the edge of the area saw the midfielder taken down for a free kick. With James Henry initially setting up to take it, it would eventually be the Bolton loanee to fizz a low effort destined for Baptiste’s bottom left, though the goalkeeper would stretch to make his second save of what would go on to be an extremely impressive individual performance.

With Wealdstone’s backline well drilled, Shots would continue their attempts at picking the lock. Losing his marker, Cameron Hargreaves played James Henry down the right-hand side of the penalty area, with the 36-year-old unleashing a low cross into the path of Brody Peart who, despite reaching the ball first, couldn’t get the connection desired.

Back at the other end, a driven ball from deep split two lines of Shots players before being taken down superbly by Sean Adarkwa, who quickly layed to ball forward to Dom Hutchinson, who may have earned himself a brace if not for a tremendous recovery tackle from Ryheem Sheckleford, who took advantage of the forward ever so slightly losing his footing after being played in on goal.

HALF-TIME

With efforts drying up, the opening 20 minutes of the second half would be characterised by a tentative battle between the two midfields. Aldershot’s joy in way of attacking chances would come exclusively from the right flank, as Ryheem Sheckleford made an impressive direct run from full-back, beating two men before infiltrating the penalty area and floating a cross towards the head of Callum Stewart, who couldn’t get over the ball enough to find anything other than the top of Baptiste’s net.

Stewart would turn provider, however, after being jockeyed away from the direction of the penalty area out by the right-hand touchline, Stewart would manage to wrap his body around the ball to produce an inch-perfect cross towards the head of substitute Kwame Thomas. The forward would connect well, but send the ball agonisingly wide of the left-hand post.

Almost 85 minutes since the game’s opening strike, the match might otherwise have been described as a tale of two good defences. However, the Stones would change the narrative considerably approaching added time, as intricate footwork in the box from the recently added Ashley Nathaniel-George saw him forge an opportunity to place an effort with his left, duly positioning the ball just inside the bottom left corner to double the Stones’ lead.

Somewhat dejected, the Shots would succumb to a third goal shortly after. Olufela Olomola providing a near-mirror-image of his colleagues recent strike, curling a brilliant effort an effort with his right just centimeters inside the point where post meets grass. The referee would soon call time on a tough day for the Shots, while Wealdstone continue their good run of form in both league and cup competition.

Shots line-up: 41. Coniah Boyce-Clarke, 7. Cameron Hargreaves, 11. Brody Peart (23. Hady Ghandour 56′), 15. Christy Grogan, 17. James Henry (9. Kwame Thomas 56′), 19. Ryan Hill (C), 20. Callum Stewart, 24. Charlie Warren (10. Josh Barrett 73′), 25. Will Nightingale, 31. Ryheem Sheckleford, 33. Sam Inwood (42. Matt Penney 90+1′)

Unused Subs: 16. Pat Nash, 6. Theo Widdrington, 23. Hady Ghandour, 34. Dejan Tetek

Wealdstone line-up: 1. Dante Baptiste, 5. Deon Woodman, 6. Mason Barrett, 8. Dylan Kadji (23. Terrell Agyemang 84′), 14. Micah Obiero (15. Ashley Nathaniel-George 67′), 17. Dom Hutchinson (7. Enzio Boldewijn 84′), 20. Nathan Tshikuna (3. Anthony Georgiou 67′), 22. Connor McAvoy, 25. Jack Wells-Morrison, 27. Sean Adarkwa (9. Olufela Olomola 79′), 29. Junior Tiendia

Unused Subs: 13. Endurance Johnson, 32. Jack Hinchy