The Shots make the long journey back from Gateshead with a point after a 3-3 draw at the Gateshead International Stadium.
Tommy Widdrington named an unchanged side for the third game in a row, with the only change coming on the bench as Theo Widdrington took the place of Noah Watson.
The hosts had a golden opportunity to take the lead within the first minute when Jed Meerholz miscued a header that fell kindly for Kain Adom who, one-on-one with Marcus Dewhurst, could only drag his effort wide.
In the fifth minute, a clever switch of play from Josh Barrett out on the left found Archy Taylor in space in the right side of the Gateshead box and he took the ball down well, but trying to find Kwame Thomas with a cutback, it was intercepted and cleared.
And from that clearance, the home side countered to devastating effect. Kyle Hurst found himself in loads of space down the left and kept his composure after advancing 20-yards to slot it past Dewhurst and in off the inside of the post.
The game was setting up to see Aldershot with the majority of possession and Gateshead ready to pounce on the counter so it wasn’t a surprise to see the Shots with an almost instant chance of reply.
Archy Taylor fed Kwame Thomas in down the right side of the box and his clever backheel was perfectly placed for a teammate to tap in, but there was no teammate waiting in the middle. Taylor won the ball back instantly deep into the Gateshead box and saw a shot blocked as Josh Barrett blasted over the bar from close-range on the rebound.
But 10 minutes later, the Shots found their equaliser as Kwame Thomas was in the perfect place to get another goal from a yard out! Josh Barrett did brilliantly down the right side of the box and clipped a delightful cross to the far-post where Thomas had shaken his man to head the ball in.
And another 10 minutes later, the Shots had turned the game around and taken the lead. Ryan Hill’s ball across the edge of the Gateshead box travelled all the way across and was perfect for Cameron Hargreaves to run onto and fire a deflected effort past Tiernan Brooks.
The home side felt aggrieved with this afternoon’s Referee as loud penalty claims filled the Gateshead International Stadium’s Main Stand on two occasions. Without bias, if they had been given, they would have been incredibly soft penalties against the Shots.
Both sides had half-decent chances before the break as Callum Johnson headed a Gateshead corner just wide in the 40th minute, before Josh Barrett’s free-kick on the edge of the box hit the wall and his rebound on the half-volley flew over the bar a minute before half-time.
HALF-TIME
A crazy minute on the hour mark saw the game turn on it’s head for a second time as the home side’s counter attacks were too much for the Shots. With the ball caught in Jed Meerholz’s feet on the edge of his box, Harry Chapman pounced and threaded Kyle Hurst in for his second of the game and his side’s equaliser.
And from kick-off, Gateshead scored again to turn the game around in barely a minute. Winning the ball back from a long ball forward after the Shots’ kick-off, the home side broke forward in numbers and Fenton John’s ball put Kyle Hurst through on goal. In search of his hat-trick, he took the shot on himself which was well saved by Dewhurst but only to the feet of Harry Chapman who found the back of the net.
Ryan Hill had a great opportunity to equalise in the 74th minute as Hady Ghandour broke down the right and found him at the far-post with a low-cross, but he could only fire over the bar with a first-time strike.
Just three minutes later, though, the Shots did find their equaliser. Josh Barrett rattled the post with a free-kick from the edge of the box and the rebound fell to Hady Ghandour who made no mistake.
This gave the Shots the initiative and just seconds after his introduction from the bench, James Henry got the ball on the edge of the box but hit it wide as he almost made an instant impact.
But Gateshead still offered a threat as the Shots pushed in search of a late winner and Dewhurst was called into action with nine minutes remaining as he stood firm with a strong hand to deny Kain Adom who had cut in from the right.
But as there was not much of a clearcut chance at either end until the death. A flurry of chances came for the Shots to get what was on reflection, a deserved winner.
James Henry delivered a corner deep into additional time and Kwame Thomas saw his header cleared off the line. It came back out to Henry to deliver again and Will Nightingale headed back across goal for James Clarridge to turn it into the next. However, the Referee had blown his whistle for a foul in the move, much to the dismay of the Shots attack.
The Shots pushed forward some more and earned a corner only to see the Referee not allow the corner to be taken and blow the full-time whistle as both sides shared the points.
Attendance: 722 (111 Away)
Shots lineup: 1. Marcus Dewhurst, 7. Cameron Hargreaves (C), 9. Kwame Thomas, 10. Josh Barrett (17. James Henry, 80′) 14. Jed Meerholz, 19. Ryan Hill, 25. Will Nightingale, 28. Archy Taylor, 30. Tristan Abrahams (23. Hady Ghandour, 69′), 32. James Clarridge, 34. Dejan Tetek
Subs not used: 16. Pat Nash, 6. Theo Widdrington, 12. Keane Anderson, 18. Kiban Rai, 24. Maxwell Mullins.
Gateshead lineup: 1. Tiernan Brooks, 2. Callum Johnson, 3. David Ferguson, 5. Kenton Richardson (C), 6. Will Flint (17. Josh Home, 62′), 7. Kain Adom, 14. Frank Nouble (39. Oli Thompson, 89′), 20. Fenton John, 21. Kyle Hurst (35. Callum Bone, 89′), 26. Connor Pani, 32. Harry Chapman (8. Max Sheaf, 70′).
Subs not used: 33. George Shelvey, 23. Ethan Fitzhugh, 31. Ben Williams
