Aldershot came from two goals down to win 4-2 in front of 2,177 Shots fans at the EBB, as two quick goals in the first half from Jack Barham were topped off by a late brace by striker Lorent Tolaj to give Tommy Widdrington all the points against Maidenhead.
There were two changes to Tommy Widdrington’s side that were 2-1 winners over Hartlepool last Saturday, as Cian Harries returned from suspension and slotted back into the defence, and Coby Rowe’s form meant Ollie Harfield was put back into the left wingback role, and Glover started in midfield. Scorer of the second goal Josh Stokes was absent from the squad, so Joe Haigh was given a first National League start by Tommy Widdrington.
Aldershot scored twice in front of the East Bank on Saturday, and had their first sight of the Maidenhead goal at the same end with less than five minutes on the clock through Ryan Glover. Joe Haigh had stepped into the line-up in place of an absent Josh Stokes, and he did some good work find Ryan Glover, who had his effort sent out for a throw by a sliding Lewis Kinsella for Maidenhead.
Maidenhead took the lead 15 minutes into the game, as Ashley Nathaniel-George and Reece Smith linked up well to find their way into the Shots box, and Reece Smith put the ball on a plate for Chanka Zimba with an empty net in front of him, no mistake from Zimba as he put the ball into Jordi Van Stappershoef’s net.
22 minutes in Maidenhead had a second. A ball came through from the Maidenhead defence, and somehow found Zimba who was able to turn and run through one on one with Jordi Van Stappershoef, Zimba making no mistake as he doubled Maidenhead’s lead.
Not quite as quick as Hartlepool but within five minutes the Shots had two goals and were back on terms before the break. The first came after Tommy Willard persisted to win a corner, which Ollie Harfield delivered onto the head of Jack Barham, who headed over the line to put the Shots back into the game.
If theres anything you shouldn’t do with this Shots crop its write them off, and Jack Barham proved why. As Tommy Widdrington said after the Hartlepool win, the East Bank just sucks the ball into the back of the net, and it was eventually Jack Barham who got the ball under Craig Ross following a cross from Ollie Harfield to put the Shots back on terms when five minutes prior they had been two goals down.
HALF TIME: Shots 2-2 Maidenhead
Two Shots changes and a pair of chances for Joe Haigh were the highlights of the first 15 in the second half, Haigh being the second change for Dejan Tetek, Tyler Frost the first to come on in place of Coby Rowe at half time.
Both sides went back and forth with possession, but were unable to make any real chances, so Tommy Widdrington again went to the bench. Hero at the weekend Kwame Thomas was the final change, as he came on in place of Tommy Willard with just over 15 minutes to go.
There was some mix up on the Aldershot socials about the second, but there was no doubt the third goal was Lorent Tolaj’s. Tyler Frost just in front of the Shots dugout slid through Lorent Tolaj, and the Swiss striker opened his body and picked out the bottom right corner of Craig Ross’ goal to complete Aldershot’s comeback.
Aldershot almost had a fourth goal in the 87th minute, Dejan Tetek doing very well to work a way into the box before poking an effort towards goal that was cleared off the line before Kwame Thomas could get any sort of connection to get a goal.
There would be a fourth goal for the Shots, Lorent Tolaj making it a brace for himself with time almost up. Tyler Frost did well and perfectly timed his pass into Jack Barham, and into the box Barham slid the ball across goal for Lorent Tolaj, who secured all the points for Aldershot from close range.
The Shots now turn attention to Saturday, where they travel to Dorking.
Shots XI: 1. Jordi Van Stappershoef, 2. Haji Mnoga, 3. Ollie Harfield, 4. Cian Harries, 5. Coby Rowe (8. Tyler Frost, 46′), 9. Lorent Tolaj, 11. Ryan Glover, 17. Aaron Jones (C), 20. Joe Haigh (34. Dejan Tetek, 57′), 22. Jack Barham, 27. Tommy Willard (39. Kwame Thomas, 73′)
Unused subs: 6. Theo Widdrington, 24. Maxwell Mullins
