Aldershot Town 0 – 2 Carlisle United
It all ended in defeat at the EBB this Tuesday night as the Shots suffered a 2 – 0 loss against a strong Carlisle side. The first half goals from Morgan Feeney and Harvey Macadam were the difference between the two sides, and the visitors managed to hold out against an Aldershot side who have had a turn of misfortune in the last few games.
John Coleman made three changes to the side that took on Forest Green at the weekend, with young prospects Brody Peart and Keane Anderson earning themselves spots in the starting eleven alongside defender Olly Scott. They replaced Ryheem Sheckleford and new signing Callum Stewart, who both made the bench.
KICK OFF
The Shots made a quietly positive start to the game, channelling the ball down both flanks with the aim of getting crosses into the box. The opposition were able to deal with them comfortably in the opening ten minutes.
The first real chance of the game fell to Josh Barrett on the volley after a nice one two gave him an opening. Barrett’s volley looped just over the top right corner, but it was a promising passage of quick play. Barrett quickly found himself with another chance in the centre of the box as a cross was flung in from the left hand side, although the ball was just too high for him to make contact.
Some great Barcelona-esque passing play made for an enjoyable watch as the Shots looked to play in tight areas. Eventually the ball rolled beautifully to Keane Anderson, who let loose from twenty-five yards, however his Shot was deflected behind for a corner. The subsequent corner allowed
The opposition struggled to get out of their own half as the Shots dominated over possession, as well as acting quickly to win the ball back with a high press when possession was lost. Brody Peart soon turned the gas on to chase a ball down the left flank before whipping in a beautiful cross into the corridor of uncertainty, but unfortunately there was no one in red and blue there to get on the end of it.
The visitors had their first chance of the game in the 28th minute when a long ball caught Will Nightingale unawares, and Carlisle winger Regan Linney cut in forced a fantastic save from Boyce-Clarke down in the bottom left corner. A second opportunity in quick succession saw Boyce Clarke make another camera worthy save, this time down to his right as a whipped cross went untouched and almost snuck in the far corner.
It was third time lucky for Carlisle, who had grown into the game towards the end of the first half and opened the scoring in the 31st minute, after an early cross found the head of Carlisle captain Morgan Feeney in the centre of the box who had an easy header into the top left corner. Aldershot 0 – 1 Carlisle.
Carlisle began to stretch the Shots defence, as a long through ball was knocked forward by Regan Linney who managed to get a shot off straight at Boyce-Clarke. The Shots keeper managed to make a comfortable save in what could have been a troubling one-on-one situation.
The Shots nearly struck back early with a great effort from Ryan Hill after the ball was set back to him outside the box by Josh Barrett. The low driven strike whistled past the left post, but left the goalkeeper a little flustered.
It was not the end to the first half that the Shots would’ve been hoping for as Carlisle doubled their lead three minutes before half time. A freekick on the right up towards the halfway line was swung into the mix, where Harvey Macadam found himself unmarked to beat Boyce-Clarke to the ball and head home.
Aldershot 0 – 2 Carlisle.
HALF TIME
The second half brought with it a little bit of tension as Olly Scott found himself in an affair with Carlisle number 10 Regan Linney, who saw the first yellow of the game for his shove in retaliation to a beefy tackle. Things began to get a bit heated as tackles started getting harder, with
The Shots came close to pulling one back when some good link up play on the left hand side resulted in Josh Barrett cutting the ball back into the box, which popped out to Charlie Warren at the far post who couldn’t quite turn his awkward volley goal-wards.
There was another very late challenge put in by , who picked up another yellow card for his aggressive sliding tackle on Brody Peart, who thankfully came out unscathed.
The visitors came close to adding a third when a fast break down the left saw Stephen Wearne through on goal, but Boyce-Clarke was up to the task yet again with another save. It looked as though Wearne was offside, although nothing was given by the linesman.
The atmosphere began to build around the EBB as the Shots kept up pressure to reduce the deficit. The threat of Brody Peart down the left looked promising, as he continued to beat the opposition fullback and deliver crosses, however no one was able to attack the ball in the box and carve out a significant chance.
Cam Hargreaves saw an opening from long range in the 73rd minute as he found some space on the edge of the box. Although on target, his effort didn’t look to trouble the goalkeeper who collapsed on it down to the left. A goal was needed
Carlisle goalkeeper Gabriel Breeze was doing everything in his power to run the last fifteen minutes down, a little too much for the referees liking as he was booked for an especially lengthy goal kick routine. Safe to say he was hoping to breeze through to the end of the game.
The game was opened up as both sides visibly began to grow tired, and Carlisle had several clean cut opportunities as the Shots defence were caught outnumbered. They were unable to capitalise however, and a small glimpse of hope remained as the Shots desperately pushed to pull one back.
Man of the match was given deservingly to Brody Peart, who looked the most likely creator of a Shots’ goal all evening and was unlucky not to come away with an assist from the abundance of quality crosses he had put in. Despite the result, it was another promising performance from the young winger, who has proved to be a brilliant addition to John Coleman’s side so far.
Unfortunately the winless run continued with a defeat to a strong opposition side. The Shots will look to bounce back next Saturday as we welcome promotion candidates York City to the EBB, in what will be another tough graft against strong opposition.
FULL TIME ALDERSHOT 0 – 2 CARLISLE
Attendance: 1760 (236 Away)
Aldershot Lineup: 41. Coniah Boyce-Clarke, 7. Cameron Hargreaves, 10. Josh Barrett (9. Kwame Thomas 61′), 11. Brody Peart (31. Ryheem Sheckleford 88′), 12. Keane Anderson (20.Callum Stewart 61′), 14. Jed Meerholz (8. Tyler Frost 76′), 15. Christy Grogan, 19. Ryan Hill (C), 22. Olly Scott, 24.. Charlie Warren, 25. Will Nightingale
Unused Subs:16. Pat Nash, 27. Toby Nelson, 42. Matt Penney
Carlisle Lineup: 1. Gabriel Breeze, 5. Morgan Feeney (C), 10. Regan Linney (9. Georgie Kelly 84′), 12. Ryan Galvin, 16. Stephen Wearne, 20. Alex Gillead, 26. Bevis Mugabi, 29. Luke Armstrong (30. Hugh Parker 84′), 31. Hayden Atkinson (18. Jack Ellis 71′), 37. Harvey Macadam, 38. Chris Conn-Clarke (7. David Ajeboye 71′)
Unused Subs: 13. Archie Mair, 3. Cameron Harper, 4. Terell Thomas, 18. Jack Ellis
Referee: James Durkin | Assistant Referees: Damith Bandara, Nick Blogg | Fourth Official: Cairan Fidler
