Aldershot Town played out a goalless draw and picked up a point at home against Dover Athletic.
There were four changes made to the starting XI that suffered a 3-1 defeat to Grimsby last time out. Toby Edser, Harrison Panayiotou and James Vennings came into the line-up after being named as substitutes against The Mariners, and new loan signing Sam Matthews was put straight into the starting XI by Mark Molesley.
It was the visitors who were putting on some early pressure, and it took just four minutes for them to get a shot on goal, however it was a fairly non-threatening one. Koby Arthur let fly on the half-volley from outside the box, but his effort flew over Dillon Barnes’ goal.
A few minutes later, The Shots had their first effort of the game. A cross from Oxlade-Chamberlain found Panayiotou inside the area, and he set himself up for a bicycle kick, but it didn’t quite have the power and was easily dealt with by Parkes.
Tommy Willard was next to test Parkes in the Dover goal. After driving into the area, he managed to get a shot off with his left foot, and after initially spilling it, the keeper gathered at the second time of asking.
Just after the twenty minute mark, Edser had a go from long-range, but his strike was straight at Parkes who saved comfortably.
The Shots continued to keep the efforts coming. This time, Bradley Webb’s cross managed to find the head of Glover, but he couldn’t direct his effort on target.
Ten minutes before half time, Dover came close to taking the lead. A free kick from Krasniqi wasn’t properly dealt with by the Aldershot Town defence, and it fell to Koby Arthurs in a good position. However, his effort was deflected just wide, and the resulting corner came to nothing.
The final ten minutes saw no real chances created for either side, and the referee’s whistle brought an end to a fairly even first half.
It was The Shots that had the first chance of the second half. Edser’s free kick wasn’t met by anyone, but it caught out Parkes and had it been on target, the deadlock could well have been broken. However, the ball travelled inches wide of the post and the game remained goalless.
Just before the hour mark, Dover won a free-kick 30 yards out. It was struck by Alfie Pavey, who connected well with it, but his effort was always rising and didn’t trouble Barnes.
In the 66th minute, Aldershot Town came close once again. After some good build up play involving multiple Shots players, the ball came to Oxlade-Chamberlain on the right hand side. He drove into the box and shot from a tight angle, but his effort could only find the side netting.
It was a quiet following fifteen minutes, with neither goalkeeper being tested and a lot of Aldershot Town possession, but they still had nothing to show for it.
Five minutes from time, a cross from Willard was cleared only as far as new signing Matthews. It bounced perfectly for him to hit on the half-volley, which he did, but it flew over the bar.
Shortly after, a free kick from Willard managed to find Oxlade-Chamberlain in the area, but he didn’t connect well with it and the ball found its way into the hands of Parkes.
Early into the five minutes of added time, a beautiful piece of skill from Willard saw him get past two Dover players, and his low ball into the box found substitute Berkeley-Agyepong. His first touch faked out a defender, and his shot was heading for the far corner, but it was cleared at the last second and went out of play.
His effort ended up being the last of the evening, and saw The Shots left fairly disappointed.
Aldershot Town are next in action on Saturday, as they travel to Wales to take on Wrexham.
Aldershot Town FC: 35 D Barnes (G/K), 8 T Edser, 11 H Panayiotou (S Wilson 81’), 12 C Oxlade-Chamberlain, 14 R Glover (J Berkeley-Agyepong 67’), 16 C Jordan (K Lyons-Foster 81’), 22 G Phillips (C), 24 J Vennings, 27 T Willard, 32 B Webb, 34 S Matthews
Unused Subs: 1 M Walker (G/K), 23 J Harris
Dover Athletic FC: 20 A Parkes (G/K), 4 T Bramble, 6 J Goodman, 16 H Rawson, 18 H Woods (G Wilkinson 71’), 22 K Arthur (J Caton 60’), 23 D Collinge, 25 R Hanson (C), 26 A Pavey (D Parfitt-Williams 67’), 32 A Krasniqi, 33 M Gyasi
Unused Subs: 44 A Andre (G/K), 2 W Moses
