Aldershot Town 3-2 Bromley
Aldershot Town claimed a vital victory at the bottom end of the National League after James Rowe’s 85th minute winner sealed the three points against Bromley at the EBB stadium on Saturday.
It was a sparkling start to the game from Aldershot as the hosts deservedly broke the deadlock and after striking the post moments beforehand, Scott Rendell made no mistake second time round, peeling off his marker for a simple header at the far post in the 17th minute.
The Shots had made the most of an early setback for Bromley after losing captain Roger Johnson to a hamstring injury. However, the former Wolves defender’s replacement Tobi Adebayo-Rowling caused plenty of problems down the right-wing.
The 21-year-old delivered a looping cross with the ball rebounding off the crossbar and Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe was quickest to react from five yards.
The equaliser riled on The Ravens to exert even more pressure in what was a nervous spell of the game for the Shots with the defence being called into question multiple times.
George Fowler was at the heart of the action and after heroically clearing off his own lines before the equaliser, the centre-back was unfortunate to see the ball ricochet off him into the net following a flick-on by Jake Goodman.
It was a heart-wrenching goal for the Shots to concede on the stroke of half-time, which forced manager Gary Waddock to make a change at the break, Chris Smith replacing Luke Howell.
However, it was another second-half substitute in Dan Holman that made a huge impact coming off the bench. The forward’s sharpness along with the physical nature of Rendell was too much for Bromley’s back-line to deal with.
It was Holman’s bulleted strike having cut inside that was no match for Bromley goalkeeper David Gregory as the super-sub pounced on a loose ball with Marc Anthony Okoye, who lost his footing in the build-up.
With referee Gary Parsons having to pause the game for several fouls from both teams along with an injury break involving Fowler and Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong, the encounter looked to be closing towards a draw.
Berkeley-Agyepong, who was awarded as the Shots’ man of the match, showed his natural low-centre of gravity, winning a dangerous set-piece on the edge of the box.
With five minutes of normal time remaining, James Rowe stepped up and produced an astonishing free-kick, with the ball dipping just underneath the crossbar.
Bromley did have the ball in the back of the net after a sweet volley from former Shots winger Bobby-Joe Taylor. Thankfully, the goal was disallowed and Aldershot successfully held out for a massive win.
This uplifting result has now propelled the Shots up to 18th in the league table heading into the visit to Flyde on Saturday.
ALDERSHOT TOWN: Legg, Gallagher, Lelan, Fowler, Kinsella, McDonnell (Booty 81), Howell (Smith 46), Rowe, Wanadio (Holman 60), Rendell, Berkeley-Agyepong.
Sub not used: Cole
By Ben King
