Goals from substitutes Harrison Panayiotou and Alfy Whittingham meant than Aldershot Town beat Maidenhead United 2-0 at The EBB Stadium on Saturday.
The Saint Kitts and Nevis international came off the bench early in the second period and immediately made an impact by scoring a header before Whittingham doubled the advantage in stoppage time.
Danny Searle decided to opt for a 4-4-2 formation and make a couple of changes following the 0-0 draw with Boreham Wood on Tuesday. Alex Finney and Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong dropped out in favour of Ethan Chislett and Alefe Santos, who occupied the wide positions.
The two players who were brought in for the game had a couple of wayward efforts from distance in an opening half-an-hour light on chances.
Shamir Mullings had a brilliant chance at the back post when Robbie Tinkler found him with a cross 34 minutes in but the striker failed to connect properly. The visitors then broke down the other end with great pace but Mitch Walker was there to prevent Danny Whitehall from opening the scoring.
Maidenhead were denied a goal again a few minutes later when Kodi Lyons-Foster headed the ball off the line.
Another Tinkler cross almost inadvertently found its way into the goal but his deep cross could only graze the crossbar.
Another chance fell to Mullings at the back post late in the half but he was unable to get enough purchase on his header under pressure.
Early second-half substitute Panayiotou had the best chance in the opening 15 minutes of it. Chislett found a great ball through to him but he was unable to sort his feet out and get a shot away before the goalkeeper smothered it.
Dean Rance came close on the hour as he closed down a clearance from goalkeeper Chris Dunn, but the fortune favoured the visitors as the keeper claimed the deflected clearance.
However, three minutes later, Dunn wasn’t able to stop the Shots from taking the lead. Panayiotou flicked the ball on from the near post from a Jack Powell free kick the Maidenhead keeper was unable to hold onto the ball which bounced over the line.
Chislett came close to extending the lead in the 69th minute. He turned his man brilliantly out on the left flank before driving inside, but he saw his shot blocked from close in.
Panayiotou had another chance with five minutes to go when he was played through from the back but a combination of a Maidenhead defender and the goalkeeper Dunn were able to prevent the forward from doubling his tally for the day.
The Shots tally was eventually doubled in stoppage time through another substitute in the form of Whittingham. After, closing the ball down on the edge of the Maidenhead area the midfielder found himself in front of goal and made no mistake with a powerful finish.
Aldershot Town: 1 M. Walker (G/K), 2 R. Tinkler, 3 L. Kinsella, 4 D. Rance (C) (Whittingham 84′), 6 K. Lyons-Foster, 7 A. Santos, 9 S. Mullings (Berkeley-Agyepong 87′), 19 M. Bettamer (Panayiotou 56′), 20 E. Chislett, 25 M. Hunt, 34 J. Powell
Unused Substitutes: Shields, Eyoma
Maidenhead United: 1 C Dunn (G/K), 4 J Ellul, 8 J Comley, 9 J Cassidy, 10 J Kelly (Blissett 75′), 14 D Whitehall, 15 S Thumasi, 16 R Sheckleford, 19 R Upward (Mensah 70′), 24 A Massey (C), 28 J Smile (Sekajja 89′)
Unused Substitutes: Steer, Davies
