Harrogate Town v Aldershot Town Match Preview – Saturday 8th December 2018
Aldershot Town’s depleted squad hit the road north once again on Saturday in the search for away points, which have been at a premium this season to date. The CNG Stadium, home of Harrogate Town is their destination – for the first time in The Shots history. BBC Surrey’s Rob Worrall previews the action.
Shots Squad:
Manager Gary Waddock, already without several key players due to injury, has lost two more players this week – with both Adam May and Gabe Osho recalled from their loan spells early by their parent clubs, Portsmouth and Reading respectively. Scott Rendell, James Rowe, Karleigh Osborne and George Fowler are all out for the foreseeable future. Jake Cole is a doubt with a hamstring strain, as are Matt McClure (shoulder) and Jacob Berkeley Agyapong (knee). With The Shots now down to just four loanees, Regan Booty should come back into Waddock’s match day squad.
Opposition:
Name: Harrogate Town
Founded: 1914 (as Harrogate AFC)
Nickname: Town
Manager: Simon Weaver
Stadium: CNG Stadium
Final position last season: 2nd in National League North (Play-Off Winners)
Current National League position: 3rd
Brief History:
Harrogate AFC were formed in 1914, but properly ‘kicked off’ after the war in the 1919/20 season. In 1948, the club were renamed Harrogate Town. They announced at the end of the 2016/17 season that they were going to become a full-time professional club and won promotion to the top tier of Non-League last season.
The Gaffer:
Simon Weaver has been Town’s manager for ten seasons and is one of England’s longest serving football managers. His biggest achievements, alongside promotion to the National League last season, include a fourth-place finish in the National League North in 2015/16 and an FA Cup Second Round appearance in 2012/13.
Squad:
Weaver showed great faith in the squad that earned promotion from the National League North last season, retaining 15 players from that squad. He added just five players, but all were key additions. They included; Defenders Callum Howe (Port Vale) and Kelvin Langmead (Nuneaton) and Liam Kitching (on loan from Leeds United) and in attack, the prolific Aaron Williams (40 goals for Brackley last season) and Jack Muldoon from AFC Fylde. Muldoon is currently The Town’s top scorer with 9 goals to date. Howe has 6, whilst Williams and Dom Knowles have 5 goals each to date.
Referee:
Saturday’s referee is Simeon Lucas. He has refereed 7 National League matches this season, showing 15 yellow cards and 1 red card to date. He has not taken charge of any Aldershot matches this season.
Commentary:
There will be live BBC Surrey Sport commentary of Saturday’s game, with Rob Worrall and Shots supporter Matt Foot from 2:50pm. To interact with the commentary team, tweet @RobShot66.
