The opening day of the 24/25 season earned a point for Aldershot Town as the entertainment certainly returned to the EBB Stadium with a 3-3 draw against Forest Green Rovers.
The Shots raced into a fantastic start with the first goal of the 24/25 Vanarama National League season when Hady Ghandour scored a hugely deserved goal. Performing well throughout the pre-season campaign, Ghandour just couldn’t seem to find the back of the net but just seven minutes into the competitive campaign, showed he can add goals to his performances.
Pouncing on a defensive error, Ghandour raced forward and cut onto his right foot to powerfully score past Jed Ward and just six minutes later, he had a second goal.
Cameron Hargreaves won possession with a slide tackle in midfield and Josh Barrett slotted Ghandour down the left side of the Forest Green box, but with a lot to do with bodies around him and a tight angle to goal, Ghandour pulled off an outstanding, outside-of-the-right-boot chip over Ward and under the crossbar to hit the back of the net.
Ghandour’s career, particularly at Aldershot, has been blighted by injury and it was fantastic to see him rewarded for his and the Shots’ medical team’s hard work and determination to get him back to full fitness as he ran over to the Shots dugout to celebrate with his teammates and staff.
Five minutes after Ghandour and Aldershot’s second, and just 18 minutes into their new season, the Shots were denied a third goal by the post as Josh Barrett’s low effort from a swift break forward had beaten Ward.
But rather than extend their lead, Aldershot were pegged back in the 22nd minute. A cross from Forest Green’s right wing was not dealt with and Rovers centre-back Ryan Inniss was the unlikely player to pop up at the back-post to powerfully turn it in past Marcus Dewhurst.
The visitors were buoyed by their goal and pushed forward to try and equalise as Charlie McCann forced Dewhurst into a low, bottom-corner save with a half-volley from the edge of the box in the 29th minute.
Tommy Widdrington’s side were demonstrating some brilliant football and a prime example of this came in the 36th minute when Kai Corbett chipped the ball over the Forest Green defence to find Josh Barrett, who was denied by the feet of Ward.
Forest Green came very close to equalising a minute before the break with a chip of their own as Kyle McAllister’s effort beat Dewhurst, but could only find the roof of the net as Aldershot went into the break in front.
HALF-TIME
Forest Green started the second-half in the best possible fashion with a goal just two minutes after the restart. Kyle McAllister stayed composed as he ran at the Shots defence and without being challenged, he was able to fire through Dewhurst’s legs.
And their comeback was complete in the 57th minute as McAllister again caused the Shots defence plenty of problems. This time, McAllister squared the ball across goal to Christian Doidge to add to his Rovers record goalscoring tally with one his easiest finishes.
The Shots had fallen behind after holding a two-goal lead but were not going to accept defeat as they pushed to get back into the game. An Ollie Harfield cross just evaded the head of Hady Ghandour, before Tyler Frost fired over at the far-post.
James Henry was introduced in the 58th minute and gave the Shots attack a new lease of life as 10 minutes after his introduction, his deflected effort was close to being turned in by Ghandour, but the spin took the ball away from the Shots striker.
Ghandour came close again to getting his hat-trick with a curling effort from outside the area in the 78th minute, but two minutes later, he turned provider for James Henry to net on his Shots debut. A neat flick from Ryan Jones sent Ghandour down the left and he pulled the ball back to the penalty spot for Henry to smash it past Ward.
James Henry came close to a second, forcing Ward into a save at full stretch in the 90th minute and Jack Barham curled an effort past the post two minutes into stoppage time, but Aldershot couldn’t find a winner as the game finished level.
Attendance: 2564 (241 Away)
Shots lineup: 28. Marcus Dewhurst, 3. Ollie Harfield (C), 4. Luke Jenkins, 5. Christian Maghoma, 6. Theo Widdrington (34. Dejan Tetek, 82′), 7. Cameron Hargreaves, 8. Tyler Frost, 9. Kai Corbett (27. James Henry, 58′), 10. Josh Barrett (22. Jack Barham, 65′), 11. Ryan Jones, 23. Hady Ghandour.
Subs not used: 1. Jordi van Stappershoef, 2. Lachlan Byrd, 20. Haydon Vaughan, 21. Ashley Akpan.
Forest Green lineup: 1. Jed Ward, 3. Sean Long, 4. Ben Tozer (C), 5. Ryan Inniss, 6. Emmanuel Osadebe (10. Liam Sercombe, 70′), 7. Kyle McAllister, 8 Charlie McCann, 9. Christian Doidge (14. Tyrese Omotoye, 83′) 16. Harvey Bunker (11. Tom Knowles, 46′), 17. Jamie Robson, 19. Adam May (21. Teddy Jenks, 83′).
Subs not used: 20. Jamie Searle, 2. Marcel Lavinier, 18. Jacob Maddox.
