Badshot Lea 0 – 2 Aldershot Town
Football was back with the Shots first trip of the pre-season campaign down to local side Badshot Lea, in what was new boss Scott Davies’ first game in charge. After just five training sessions together, the match was a great opportunity for the newly revamped Shots side to get a flavour of playing properly with each other, and begin building fitness ahead of the 2026/27 season.
It was a slow but positive start to the game from the Shots, quietly knocking at goal with several snapshots inside the opening 10 minutes. A beautiful cross-field ball from Kiki Oshilaja to find Toby Nelson on the left, who managed to force a corner. The subsequent delivery resulted in a header that went just over the bar.
A counter-attacking opportunity presented itself after Badshot Lea lost the ball at the edge of the Shots penalty area, and some nice linkup play between Kiban Rai and Michee Efete on the right resulted in another corner. The ball was whipped in and cleared away towards Jacob Borgnis, who let loose a beautifully struck half volley that was beaten away by the goalkeeper in the bottom left corner.
The hosts had the best opportunity of the game so far, 31 minutes in when Fareed H-Habeeb put winger Stan Jones clean through on the right side of the penalty box, forcing Nick Hayes to introduce himself to the Shots fans with a solid save.
With some newfound confidence, Badshot Lea started to grow into the game and looked to commit more players forward, with the Shots staying alert to pounce on any opportunity of a counter attack. Another half chance soon fell the way of Lewis-Evans, who found some space on the left. The tight angle however saw his effort fall straight down the throat of the goalkeeper.
A final opportunity on the stroke of half-time was an ambitious lob from Tristin Abrahams, resulting in a fantastic save from Badshot goalkeeper Jonas Cody. The resulting corner was whipped into the pack, where Marcus Wyllie was able to take advantage of the chaos and put the Shots in front. Badshot Lea 0-1 Aldershot Town
HALF TIME
The second half almost started exactly how the first ended, with the ball falling at the feet of Marcus Dinanga who sent a deflected effort just wide, a snap shot on the half turn. Moments later, Elijah Oladunji had a fantastic goal ruled out… scoring directly from a throw in! A manic start to the second half was topped off with the hosts registering their second shot on target when Brandon Vangrove let loose a tame effort under pressure that was no trouble for goalkeeper Charlie Patmore.
Twenty minutes in, some tidy feet from Kwaku Frimpong gave him a yard of space to get his shot off, fizzing past the left post with pace and coming agonizingly close to increasing the deficit.
The Shots then had the ball in the back of the net for the third time during the afternoon, but the goal was ruled out as Basil Tuma ended up getting involved from an offside position in the build-up. It was a matter of minutes, however, before Jonas Cody was beaten properly this time, by a thunderous strike from midfielder John Gilbert who found the top right corner from twenty yards out. Badshot Lea 0-2 Aldershot Town.
Michael Stickland came close to adding a third with a towering header from a corner. The pressure was coming thick and fast with Basil Tuma registering shot on target, but the goalkeeper made a respectable save.
Because once wasn’t enough, Elijah Oladunjoye decided to score his second throw-in of the game by launching a rocket into the box from the right touchline. Unfortunately no Shots players were able to get a touch on the ball, so the goal was again disallowed.
There was little more to the action aside from a few half chances for Scott Davies men in the closing stages of the game. It was a good victory in a local derby to kick off the pre-season campaign, with fantastic signs of future things to come as this group begins to play more and more with each other.
Badshot Lea Lineup: 1. Jonas Cody, 2. Will Shaw, 3. Callum Wiltshire, 4. James Hennessy, 5. George Winkworth, 6. Freddie Jamieson, 7. Trialist, 8. Alf Edmonds, 9. Ben Jordan, 10. Fareed H-Habeeb, 11. Stan Jones
Aldershot Town Lineup:
1st Half: 1. Nick Hayes, 5 Michee Efete, 4. Kiki Oshilaja, 25. Dyce, 2. Joe Lewis-Evans, 14. Kiban Rai, 19. Conor Lawless, 3. Jacob Borgnis, 21. Toby Nelson, 30. Tristin Abrahams, 20. Marcus Wyllie
2nd Half: 40. Charlie Patmore, 22. Elijah Oladunjoye, 11. Michael Stickland, 6. Jack Matton, 18. Nino Adom-Maliki, 36. Dominic Odusanya, 12. Kwaku Frimpong, 7. Hakeem Sandah, 8. John Gilbert, 10. Basil Tuma, 9. Marcus Dinanga
