The Shots were held to a 1-1 draw against Boston United as the points were shared at the Jakemans Community Stadium.
Despite a quiet 10 minutes at the beginning of the game, the first chance came from the Shots. Josh Barrett’s effort was fired from distance but dragged just wide.
After a long period of stoppage time due to an injury for the Pilgrims, the hosts had their first chance 23 minutes in. Keaton Ward with a high cross to Jacob Hazel whose shot went just left of the goal, despite the Assistant Referee’s flag being raised for offside.
Another chance for the Shots came in the 25th minute. An ambitious attempt came from James Henry as he fired a 25-yard volley at goal, but his shot was wide of the mark.
Almost immediately after, Ward travelled down the hosts’ right-hand side and fired a shot towards goal that fell comfortably into the hands of Marcus Dewhurst.
30 minutes in, the Shots opened the scoring. Jack Barham pressed the Boston back line and won the ball back and found Josh Barrett who sent a curling shot past Cameron Gregory with a brilliant finish.
In the 37th minute, Boston were awarded a penalty as Hazel backed and fell into Maghoma and referee Andrew Miller pointed to the spot despite the protests of the Shots defence.
Dan Mooney stepped up from 12 yards, but an incredible double-save from Dewhurst was enough to prevent the Pilgrims from making the equaliser. Diving to his left, Dewhurst denied Mooney and sprung up to somehow get a hand to his shot on the rebound.
Seven minutes into injury time, the Pilgrims had another opportunity to level. A pass fell into the path of Sam Osborne whose effort flew just wide of the post, despite the cheers of the Boston supporters who thought the ball had gone in.
HALF TIME
The first chance of the second half came from the Shots in the 64th minute. A cross from Kai Corbett was just a bit too far for Hady Ghandour who was in a dangerous position.
One minute later, the Pilgrims had another shot on goal. A through ball fell into the path of Tony Weston, who fired a shot home but Dewhurst managed to get a hand to it.
The visitors had another chance to double their lead 70 minutes in. Theo Widdrington attempted to thread the ball through the host’s defence but his pass was too heavy for Ghandour to reach.
In the 73rd minute Boston made it 1-1. Weston found a gap in the Shots’ defence and fired a shot towards the goal but his rebounded effort fell to Hazel who struck a shot past Dewhurst and into the visitors goal.
After a period of minimal chances from both sides, the Shots had a chance to take the lead in the 92nd minute. The ball was met by Hayden Vaughan at the edge of the box but his effort went straight into the hands of Gregory.
For the remaining moments of the game Boston were able to hold the Shots level despite a few threatening chances, however the points were shared at the final whistle.
Attendance: 1,949 (204 away)
Shots lineup: 28. Marcus Dewhurst, 2. Lachlan Byrd, 3. Ollie Harfield, 5. Christan Maghoma, 6. Theo Widdrington, 7. Cam Hargreaves, 10. Josh Barrett (55’ 23. Hady Ghandour) 17. Aaron Jones(C) (83’ 34 .Dejan Tetek), 18. Olly Scott (83’ 11. Ryan Jones), 22. Jack Barham (88’ 20. Hayden Vaughan), 27. James Henry (55’ 9. Kai Corbett).
Unused Subs: 1. Jordi Van Stappershoef, 25. Rollin Menayese
Boston lineup: 1. Cameron Gregory, 4. Mitch Roberts (20’ 3. Cameron Green), 5. Michael Bostwick (C), 7. Keaton Ward (77’ 10. Adam Marriott), 9. Jacob Hazel, 11. Dan Mooney
(61’ 16. Tony Weston) , 12. Jai Rowe, 21. Sam Osborne (61’ 17. Oluwalopemiwa Aderoju), 22. Frankie Maguire, 23. Zak Mills, 24. Dylan Hill.
Unused Subs: 3. Cameron Green, 6. Tom Leak, 8. Martin Woods, 25. Ellis Craven.
