Aldershot Town suffered an unfortunate stalemate against Boreham Wood at the EBB Stadium as Dale Stephens’ 90th minute equaliser cancelled out Adam McDonnell’s opener on Tuesday night.
The Shots first chance of the match came five minutes in as Scott Rendell chested the ball to Shamir Fenelon before the winger flashed his strike wide of the top corner.
Gozie Ugwu presented Boreham Wood with their first opportunity of the game as an immaculate first touch allowed the physical striker to swivel in the box but George Fowler was in the right place at the right time with a courageous block.
The best spell for the Shots came around the 20th minute with some sharp passing almost undoing the visitor’s backline. Unfortunately, the hosts couldn’t make the most of this spark with Matt McClure coming close to getting on the end of Shamir Fenelon’s cutback from the bar line.
Having settled back into the encounter, Boreham Wood full-back Danny Woodards found himself with acres of space in the box however his effort was poor as the shot drifted well wide of the target.
Gary Waddock had plenty to ponder going into half-time as he was dealt a blow having lost Matt McClure to injury.
McDonnell ensured his team would go into the interval with the momentum as the midfielder shimmied the ball onto his right-foot on the edge of the box before drilling his shot into the bottom left corner leaving Wood’ shot-stopper Ryan Huddart with no chance.
Luke Wanadio, who replaced the injured McClure, was almost given an early Halloween gift by Huddart in the 51st minute as the goalkeeper fumbled a shot that should have been a routine save with the ball agonisingly close to going over the line following the mistake.
That was the brightest moment of a stop-start affair between the two teams in the opening stages of the second half. It wasn’t until the 69th minute where the Shots looked to wrap up the three points but Wanadio couldn’t convert a guilt-edge opportunity from close range, not finding the power or placement on the strike.
Aldershot kept huffing and puffing but Boreham Wood’s house couldn’t be blown down as our opponents cleared their lines following a promising attempt from McDonnell.
It took until the last five minutes of normal time for Luke Garrard’s men to realise they could snatch a result from the game. In the 90th minute came heartbreak for the Shots as Stephens was picked out at the back post from a corner and made no mistake giving his team the equaliser.
There were six minutes of additional time but neither side could find the winner as it ended all square.
Despite this frustrating result, the Shots have jumped up the National League table to 15th heading into the home fixture against Braintree Town on Saturday.
ALDERSHOT TOWN: Mannion, Bernard, Lelan, Fowler, Kinsella, Gallagher, May, McDonnell, Fenelon (Howell 80), Rendell, McClure (Wanadio 44).
Subs not used: Cole, Booty, McCoy.
By Ben King
