The Shots continued their fine run of form by making it a fifth win in six games. A great 3-1 victory against a strong opposition side who were fourth placed in the Enterprise National League going into the game. Two goals for Sean Patton and a first goal for Brody Peart were the difference between the two sides in what was a fantastic match-up. There was just one change to John Coleman’s side from Tuesday nights last minute victory at Yeovil as Matt Penney re-joined the starting eleven.
A scrappy start to the game in the opening minutes saw both sides applying pressure. The Shots looked looked to threaten down the right hand side with Brody Peart looking electric from the off. It only took 8 minutes for The Shots to break the deadlock after the first corner was scrambled away by the Scunthorpe defence, with the ball being drilled back into the box straight at the Rory Mahady, who was unable to secure the ball which allowed Sean Patton to poke it home and open the scoring.
Our visitors looked to strike back right away, with a left footed attempt by Brandon Horton being unable to find its way through a body of red and blue. Keeping the pressure up, they broke away swiftly on the counter attack after Sam Inwood strode out from defence, however incredible covering from Will Nightingale rescued The Shots from getting caught out.
Just minutes later, The Shots launched a counter attack of their own with Captain Ryan Hill demonstrating his work rate as he carried the ball forward before playing a delightful pass into the feet of Sean Patton. Still with work to do, Patton glided past the Scunthorpe defender and drilled it home into the bottom right corner. 2-0 to The Shots!
It was full steam ahead as The Shots looked to add a third goal inside 20 minutes, with Cameron Hargreaves and Brody Peart linking up nicely before Hargreaves delivered a fantastic cross into the back post. Unfortunately there was nobody there in red and blue to attack it, but the mover showed that the boys were not messing about! The relentless waves of attack continued, where some fantastic running from Sean Patton allowed him to latch onto a loose ball played up from the back, before finding James Henry in the middle whose right footed shot was blocked. The visitors were struggling to cope with the work rate from the Aldershot boys.
However, it wasn’t long before Scunthorpe recorded their first and second shots on target in quick succession, with Boyce-Clarke making a fantastic one-on-one save down to his right and a further great save in the bottom left corner after a long range effort. Several minutes later Scunthorpe finally had the ball in the back of the net… or so they thought! Thankfully number 9 Danny Whitehall’s volleyed effort was ruled out for offside.
It was an uneasy 10 minutes for The Shots as Scunthorpe kept pushing to peg one back. However, seemingly out of nowhere Brody Peart found himself through on goal after a ball down the right hand side and slid the ball through the goalkeepers legs to make it 3-0. What a day out so far!
Scunthorpe looked shaken at the back with some loose passes. This sloppy passage culminated in Brody Peart being brough down inside the box and winning The Shots a penalty. Captain Ryan Hill stepped up and unfortunately put his strike off target, letting the visitors off with a warning this time.
A long ball through the middle saw Sam Inwood caught out for a second as the Scunthorpe striker looked through on goal. However, a fantastic recovery meant that Sam was able to catch his man and prevent a certain goal. Soon after, a low driven shot from the Scunthorpe man flew just wide of the right post, a small reminder that there was still plenty of work to do.
On the stroke of half time, Hady Ghandour almost added a fourth to the tally as his right footed volley sailed just over the bar. What a first half it was from the boys.
HALF TIME
John Coleman made one change at half time as Brody Peart went off for Tristan Abrahams after an impressive first half performance. It was not the second half start that the Shots were hoping for as a long ball found its way past Will Nightingale and Sam Inwood, where Scunthorpe striker Danny Whitehall was quick to capitalise on to make it 3-1.
Hady Ghandour did well to win a free kick on the left hand side, which nearly found its way into the back of the net at the near post, courtesy of James Henry whipping the ball in. The Shots began to grow into the second half, not letting the early goal faze them. Hady looked dangerous on the left, driving at the Scunthorpe defence before sliding the ball into the feet of James Henry, whose long range effort missed just to the top left.
The fresh legs of Tristan Abrahams were put to good use in a 50 yard sprint to catch a loose ball down the right hand side, the kind of pressure that was helping to put the Shots back on the front foot. It was shortly after that another Scunthorpe counter attack saw Callum Roberts through on goal, forcing yet another strong save from Boyce-Clarke, who looked strong at the back all game.
Midway through the second half John Coleman decided to shake things up a bit by introducing a fresh set of full backs in Luke Jenkins and Ryheem Sheckleford, shifting Ryan Hill into the thick of midfield. This was a move that helped solidify the back line and helped to deal with the fast breakaways that were consistent with the opposition all afternoon.
It was back and forth between the two sides with Scunthorpe desperately looking to claw back a second goal while the Shots looked to secure victory with a fourth goal. Hady Ghandour couldn’t quite squeeze in a difficult header at the back post after a brilliant cross, and later had a great opportunity ruled as offside after being clean through with the goalkeeper. The winger was clearly desperate for a goal and showed his frustration a little too much, earning himself a yellow card.
Scunthorpe must have thought they’d scored their second when a great ball into the back post was cut back across and drilled towards goal, but Boyce-Clarke was there again to stop the visitors with an unreal close-quarters save. The Shots defence held strong in the last few minutes of the game, and a late breakaway ended with Hady Ghandour adding another attempt at goal to his list after cutting inside and sending one wide of the right post.
A well deserved man of the match award was given to striker Sean Patton, after a brilliant attacking display saw him bag a brace. There is very little chance that the two goals he scored today will be his last and he will look to carry this fine scoring form into the game at Braintree on Wednesday night.
ATTENDANCE – 2568 (away 384)
Shots Lineup: 41. Coniah Boyce-Clarke, 7 Cameron Hargreaves, 11. Brody Peart (Tristan Abrahams 67′), 14. Jed Meerholz, 17. James Henry (Luke Jenkins 67′), 19. Ryan Hill (C), 23. Hady Ghandour, 25. Will Nightingale, 29. Sean Patton, 33. Sam Inwood, 42. Matt Penney (Ryheem Sheckleford 67′).
Scunthorpe Lineup: 38. Rory Mahady, 3. Branden Horton (Tyler Denton 46′), 5. Will Evans, 6. Andrew Boyce (C), 8. Alfie Beestin (Connor Smith 63′), 9. Danny Whitehall (Aidan Dausch 64′), 10. Callum Roberts, 11. Joe Rowley, 17. Oliver Ewing (Carlton Ubaezuonu 14′), 25. Zain Westbrooke, 44. Ross Barrows (Joe Starbuck 64′).
