Aldershot Town got back to winning ways on Saturday afternoon, beating Hanwell Town 2-0 in a lunchtime kickoff at the Oliver Connell & Son Community Stadium. A fine finish from Brody Peart in the first-half opened the scoring for the Shots, while quick thinking from Marcus Wyllie saw the forward double things just after the break.
Kicking off under blistering London sunshine, the Shots donned their champagne away kit for only the second time. Elijah Oladunjoye was perhaps the player of most collective interest on the day, starting at the ground he called home only last season.
It would be Oladunjoye who would start the Shots’ first attack, his long throw from the middle of the park switching play into the path of Toby Nelson on the left flank. A neat one-two with Tristan Abrahams would see Nelson 30-yards from goal in a central position. Thinking about a shooting, he would instead opt to play wide to Brody Peart, whose eventual return pass into the box looked promising, but didn’t have the desired accuracy.
A tentative start the affair continued the 20-minute mark with little chances to report, though the Shots would go up a gear soon after. Some neat footwork from Marcus Wyllie on the edge of the area saw the forward forge a shooting chance, his eventual side-footed effort hit true, but sailing just wide of the right-hand post.
Scott Davies’ side would break the deadlock soon after, as a clever interception from Brody Peart near the half-way line saw the ball bounce conveniently into his stride and in behind the Hanwell back-line. Showing terrific strength and acceleration, a trio of touches allowed Peart the stride a full 30-yards towards the edge of the area before slotting away an emphatic finish into the top-right corner to open the scoring.
Tristan Abrahams would be the next in Aldershot colours to create a chance, after a Hanwell corner was cleared long by Nelson with only the forward and his marker anywhere near the half-way line. Abrahams touched down well before twisting around the oncoming defender, who proceeded to pull him back in a foul that may have been protested considerably more were it not a pre-season friendly.
Hanwell would see their best chance of the half towards the 40-minute mark. A well worked move down the right saw their forward in to strike across to Charlie Patmore’s bottom-left, with the Shots’ stopper pulling off a fantastic reaction save to maintain the lead.
HALF-TIME
Where the first half took a while to bring a clear-cut chance, the second proved quite the opposite. A Hanwell backpass fell short of the mark, allowing Marcus Wyllie to capitalise, reaching the ball first and slotting home into a virtually empty net to double the Shots’ lead.
Not out, Hanwell would soon after enjoy their best attacking spell of the game thus far. A strike from 18-yards would rattle the post, before two further efforts prompted heroic saves apiece from Charlie Patmore, who was displaying the best performance of an already impressive pre-season campaign.
Spoiled by the opening ten minutes of the second-half, the game would revert to a stop-start affair contested predominantly in the middle of the park. This tempo wasn’t helped by the understandable litany of substitutions from both sides, as minutes were managed on an exceedingly hot July afternoon.
The match was played in relatively good spirits for the most part, however an unsavoury piece of afters from Hanwell’s no. 19 would see Kiki Oshilaja down receiving treatment. The forward in question booked for his troubles.
Marcus Dinanga would have a golden opportunity to double his account for the summer after a breakaway run from Hakeem Sandah saw the winger play a pinpoint low cross into his striker’s path. Taking one touch before shooting, a backpeddling Hanwell defender returned well to block the eventual effort.
As the game drew to conclusion, Aldershot Town would continue their impressive pre-season campaign with a fifth win, and sixth clean sheet in seven.
Attendance:
Shots line-up: 40. Charlie Patmore (1. Nick Hayes 62′), 2. Michee Efete (5. Kiki Oshilaja 46′), 7. Tristan Abrahams (10. Basil Tuma 57′), 15. Kwaku Frimpong (4. Jacob Borgnis 72′), 16. Jack Matton, 17. Tyrese Dyce (26. Joe Lewis-Evans 72′), 20. Marcus Wyllie (9. Marcus Dinanga 57′), 21. Brody Peart (8. John Gilbert 57′), 22. Toby Nelson (11. Hakeem Sandah 46′), 23. Conor Lawless, 24. Elijah Oladunjoye
