Aldershot Town continued their progression to their next National League game away to Dover Athletic next Tuesday, with a 3-2 win against Brentford ‘B’ at the EBB Stadium on Saturday.
With an early kick-off, it was Aldershot Town who took the lead within the first five minutes of the first-half through forward Mo Bettamer with a fantastic loop over the Brentford ‘B’ keeper Jared Thompson.
Mo Bettamer scored his second goal of the game later on in the first-half, with a powerful drive from just outside the area.
Goals apiece in the second-half, along with a missed penalty each, before a late Aaron Pressley finish saw The Shots come out 3-2 victors on Saturday.
Playing in place of their BT Sport fixture against Macclesfield Town, Danny Searle went with a mixed XI that started agains Sutton United last week, with Alfy Whittingham, James Rowe and Harrison Panayiotou given the chance to impress from the off.
The Shots started the game well and looked to kick on from a tough first two National League games and started perfectly, with their first real chance of the game resulting in a goal after an audacious lob from Bettamer over Thompson as Aldershot Town looked to impose themselves on the game.
27 minutes later and Bettamer had his second with the forward cutting in from his left-hand side before driving the ball towards the Brentford ‘B’ goal, stinging the hands of Thompson and into the back of the net for a well-deserved brace.
Bettamer could’ve had a first-half hat-trick, but was unfortunate to see his close-range effort on the turn go over the bar in the 35th minute as The Shots continued to impress.
This opportunity ended what was an impressive first-half for Aldershot Town as they looked to give a number of players more vital match minutes ahead of next Tuesday’s game against Dover Athletic.
The second-half started even more frantic than the first, with Brentford ‘B’ finding their first goal of the game in the 50th minute, with Trialist tapping in from close range after good work from Fredrik Hammar intially.
It wasn’t long however, until The Shots had the ball in the back of the net again, with Harrison Panayiotou thinking he’d scored, but the referee pulled play back for a foul in the build-up in the 56th minute.
Following this, it was Brentford ‘B’ who had the next best opportunity with the away side being awarded a penalty in the 63rd minute, with one of the Aldershot Town defenders deemed to have handled the ball.
Aaron Pressley stepped up to take the penalty, but Ryan Hall was on hand to deny the forward with a brilliant save from 12 yards.
The ball did find the back of the net however for Aldershot Town just three minutes later with Alfy Whittingham heading home to retain The Shots’ two-goal advantage midway through the second-half.
Aldershot Town found themselves awarded a penalty themselves in the 68th minute, with the referee claiming Ben Hockenhull fouled in the penalty area, leaving recent substitute Ross McCormack to step up, before unfortunately seeing his effort crash off the right-hand post.
Brentford ‘B’ found a late consolation in the 85th minute with the ball falling to Pressley in the six-yard box before a clever turn-and-finish saw the ball bounce off the post and into the back of the net.
This late goal ended what was a thrilling game for both sides, but ultimately Aldershot Town came out worthy winners as we now look to our next National League fixture away to Dover Athletic next Tuesday.
Aldershot Town XI: 1 M Walker (G/K) (Hall 45′), 2 G Fowler (Trialist A 45′), 4 J Sendles-White (C) (Trialist B 45′), 6 K Lyons-Foster (Trialist C 45′), 15 S Ogie (Colombie 45′), 7 J Rowe, 8 J Rees (Edser 45′), 12 A Whittingham, 3 C Tanner, (Wylie 45′) 10 H Panayiotou (McCormack 45′), 9 M Bettamer (Nouble 45′)
Brentford ‘B’ XI: 1 J Thompson (Andersson 45′), 2 K O’Connor (C), 3 L Gordon, 5 A Koutsimouka, 6 V Janelt (Carre 75′), 8 F Hammar, 9 A Pressley, 10 A Gilbert, 15 Trialist (Trialist 87′), 16 B Hockenhull, (Crama 75′) 17 Trialist
