Aldershot Town completed an exceptional Bank Holiday Weekend with a second-successive four-goal victory in the space of three days, beating Morecambe 4-0 at the EBB Stadium. A goalless first half was followed by an all-action second, with goals from James Clarridge, Archy Taylor, Josh Barrett and Dejan Tetek seeing off the opposition in style.
Tommy Widdrington named an unchanged starting eleven to the side that ran out 5-1 victors in the West Midlands two days prior, while an understandably unfamiliar Morecambe configuration provided full debuts to both Ma’kel Bogle-Campbell and Saturday’s late hero, Daniel Ogwuru.
The spectacle began tentatively, with both sides contesting at an intermediate pace, thanks in part due to both the blistering heat and the busy league schedule. The Shots would control possession early on, however it would be the Shrimps who created the first serious sight at goal. A ball into the box from Bogle-Campbell was cleared away on the six-yard-line, only as far as Paul Lewis arriving late on the edge, the midfielder unleashed a composed first time effort with his left foot that had Marcus Dewhurst beat at the bottom left, however, Archy Taylor came to the rescue, blocking on the line away for a corner.
Down the other end, Tristan Abrahams found himself in behind the Shrimps’ backline after a hopeful ball from deep. The forward controlled well before getting the ball onto his favoured left, though an onrushing backline recovered well to close down the angle, forcing the eventual effort off a Morecambe shin and away to safety. A knock to Kwame Thomas forced a brief stoppage in play around the 20-minute mark, allowing for a much needed water break.
Abrahams found himself in once again thanks to a pinpoint long-pass from Jed Meerholz. Shots’ number 30 used tremendous strength to shrug off his marker, though struggled to get a bouncing ball truly under his spell, eventually hitting a quarter-volley straight down the barrel of the keeper and into his arms.
The 167 travelling supporters thought they had something to cheer about towards the 40-minute mark, as Dejan Tetek’s tackle on the edge of the box ricoched off of a Morecambe boot and into the path of Harrison Panayiotou. The former Shot did poke the ball into the back of the net, however, the linesman’s flag came to the host’s rescue.
Aldershot supporters were aggrieved not to have received at least a free-kick on the very edge of the penalty area after a seemingly clear handball from Paul Lewis went undetected. Mid-protestations, a riled Josh Barrett picked up the ball a rifled a powerful shot that slipped through the hands of Archie Mair, who needed to scramble to stop it going over the goal line.
HALF-TIME
The Shots would receive a big chance in the opening seconds of the second 45, after metronomic passing play from Josh Barrett saw the forward play a series of one-twos before spraying right to Archy Taylor, who played a looping back-post cross to his fellow wing-back Ryan Hill. Heading the ball back towards the penalty spot where Tristan Abrahams arrived with his back to goal, firing a shot on the turn that fell just wide.
Dejan Tetek was next to infiltrate the Morecambe box, the Serb receiving the ball on the edge before neat footwork successfully sat down two Shrimps defenders, unfortunately his goalbound right-footed curler was blocked by a Morecambe body.
Having been involved in the most goals among all National League teams thus far, the tie was taking unusually long to deliver its first, though this would change in the 53rd minute, as a bizarre passage of play opened the scoring for the hosts. A set-piece found the head of Will Nightingale, who nodded upwards in a packed penalty area. While this looked destined to be claimed by goalkeeper Archie Mair, a glancing flick from James Clarridge on the way down looked to perplex the Shrimps’ stopper, with the ball bouncing between his legs and into the goal.
The Shots would soon double their lead thanks in large part to immediate impact from substitute Hady Ghandour. The forward was played in down the right channel beautifully by Cameron Hargreaves, before taking one touch and firing a testing low-cross in the vicinity of an incoming Kwame Thomas. The ball would be poked away before reaching Thomas, though bounced only as far as the penalty spot, where a sprinting Archy Taylor had the freedom of the area to half-volley into the top corner for 2-0.
In a period of sustained dominance, it was almost three as Ryan Hill made a quintessential sprint down the left-flank before squaring to Josh Barrett on the edge. Last season’s top scorer was still waiting for his first of the season, and must have thought he’d achieved it as a clever body feint confused his marker and created space, allowing him to unleash a driven shot, that sadly dragged just to the left of the near post.
Despite the difficult task at hand, Morecambe were not intent on giving up. Gwion Edwards received the ball out right and drove into the box before twisting and turning around Ryan Hill to beat the man. With seemingly only Marcus Dewhurst in front of him, Hill recovered tremendously to get a leg to the shot, blocking away for a corner.
Josh Barrett would eventually get his goal, do the sheer delight of the onlooking East Bank. A long ball from James Clarridge was met by an effortlessly immaculate first touch from Barrett, who jinked left and right on several occasions, dancing with the Morecambe defenders before firing a right-footed shot into the back of the net before wheeling away in long-awaited celebration.
Three became four in the blink of an eye, and it was perhaps the best of the lot. Dejan Tetek received the ball 30-yards from goal, took one look up and curled a mesmerizing effort in off the bar and in. With the ball bouncing off the back-stantion and out, leading several supporters confused, though Tetek’s confident celebrations made things clear.
Keane Anderson produced a great save from Mair five minutes from time, as Kiban Rai’s mazy run allowed him to square to his fellow substitute on the edge of the 18-yard-box. The local lad was aggrieved to have not scored his first goal in red and blue, as a genuinely world-class save was required.
Attendance: 2,371 (167)
Shots lineup: 1. Marcus Dewhurst, 7. Cameron Hargreaves (C), 9. Kwame Thomas (18. Kiban Rai 72′), 10. Josh Barrett (24. Maxwell Mullins 84′), 14. Jed Meerholz, 19. Ryan Hill (17. James Henry 84′), 25. Will Nightingale, 28. Archy Taylor, 30. Tristan Abrahams (23. Hady Ghandour 58′), 32. James Clarridge, 34. Dejan Tetek (12. Keane Anderson 84′).
Subs not used: 16. Pat Nash, 38. Noah Watson.
Morecambe lineup: 1. Archie Mair, 3. Raheem Conte, 6. Ludwig Francillette, 7. Gwion Edwards, 9. Harrison Panayioutou, 10. Jake Cain, 17. Paul Lewis (2. Luke Hendrie 55′), 18. Ben Tollitt, 19. Ma’kal Bogle-Campbell (31. Corey Goodyear 90+6′), 23. Daniel Ogwuru (26. Lennon Dobson 90+6′), 24. Yann Songo’o
Subs not used: 25. Alfie Scales, 15. Ben Williams, 30. Oscar Wright.
