Aldershot Town continued a positive start to pre-season as they emerged 2-0 victors against Fleet Town on a sweltering Saturday afternoon. Goals from Tristan Abrahams and Kwaku Frimpong in quick succession towards the end of the first half proved enough for Scott Davies’ side, who were happy to once again prevented their opponents from scoring.
Hakeem Sandah looked most likely to make things happen in the opening ten minutes, after the winger was played in beautifully by left-back Tyrese Dyce from deep. Charging into the box, Haks played a quick one-two with Kwaku Frimpong before firing a testing low cross into the box, which the keeper did well to meet first with a punch.
Conor Lawless almost grabbed his second set-piece assist of pre-season after a well struck corner met the head of Tyrese Dyce, however, his effort failed to connect as he’d like, eventually looping high into the keepers gloves.
Fleet would create the match’s first true effort on target, a searching switched ball in the final third found a blue shirt in a promising area. Following a series of step-overs the effort was struck true, but didn’t possess the direction to beat Nick Hayes in the Shots goal, who palmed away comfortably.
Hakeem Sandah would infiltrate the box once more as a pinpoint switch from Kwaku Frimpong found the winger in space out left. Showing pace and agility, Sandah jinked through three blue shirts, though a strong recovery tackle prevented him pulling the trigger at the crucial moment. Tristan Abrahams would receive a yellow card shortly before time for protestation of a late challenge.
At risk of going into the first half frustrated, the Shots would eventually break the deadlock just before half time, an inspired piece of creative improvisation saw Brody Peart’s scooped through ball into Tristan Abrahams catch the Fleet backline unawares. Waiting for an offside flag that never came, Abrahams struck a still bouncing ball with sheer ferocity on his weaker right foot, finding the back of the net with some aplomb.
It wouldn’t take long to grab a second, as Abrahams would turn provider just three minutes later, laying Kwaku Frimpong on the edge after jinking through the right-hand side of the box. Grabbing his first in Shots colours, a low, cultured right-footed strike flew into the parallel corner to give the Shots daylight going into the break.
HALF-TIME
A heavily changed XI returned for the second half, which began in the way of chances in the 55th minute. Jacob Borgnis’ corner met the head of Marcus Wyllie, who connected well but saw his effort blocked. The resulting clearance, however, only found itself as far as the feet of Toby Nelson who took one touch before hitting a great effort from 30-yards that required a good save from Fleet’s keeper, and prompting oohs from each corner of the ground.
Basil Tuma went close shortly after, finding himself on the left-hand corner of the penalty area before unleashing an effort destined for the bottom right, requiring another good save from Fleet’s shot stopper.
A quintuple substitution near the hour mark piqued the interest of near all in the ground, predominantly as Scott Davies stepped onto the pitch in an Aldershot Town shirt for the first time since the 2011-12 season. However, it wasn’t only the player-manager’s cameo that was of note during the changes, with academy trio Quincy Patterson, Riley Hadley and Joel Johnson-Cole earning their maiden first-team minutes for the side.
Nino Adom-Malaki displayed his versatility across the second half, putting in a fine display at right wing, as opposed to his preferred left back position. Receiving the ball out on the flank, he twisted through two Fleet defenders before cutting inside onto his stronger left foot, and struck well towards the top corner but denied again by opposition palms.
Quincy Patterson was the next to go close, after the young midfielder intercepted the ball in the middle of the park before driving forward into the attacking third. Making considerable ground, he would eventually shoot from just outside the area, the low strike dribbling marginally and agonisingly wide of the left-hand post, preventing what would have been a dream debut.
As chances dried up, and the temperature rose further, the contest ebbed to a conclusion, as the Shots secured their third clean sheet in as many games ahead of a tough test against Portsmouth on Wednesday.
Attendance: TBC
Shots Line-ups
