British summer time officially began at the EBB Stadium on Tuesday afternoon ahead of the rest of the country as a sun-drenched EBB Stadium enjoyed an entertaining match between two attack-minded sides.
The Shots opened the fixture attacking the East Bank and after a short period of mixed possession between both sides where Millwall's Billy Gibson proved to be a handful, it was the Shots who settled into their game the quickest and began to stamp their mark on the game.
Some impressive link play between Dan Howell and Marvin Morgan started to cause some panic in the visitors defence and after just 11 minutes on the clock, it was Damian Spencer who managed to find the back of the net with what was The Shots' first real effort on target.
With Millwall captain Ali Fuselini committing a foul close to the sideline midway into his own half, he opted to remonstrate with the referee, which gave The Shots ample time to prepare their attacking options. By the time the visitors had thought about reorganising at the back Dean Howell had launched his long ball towards the visitors' penalty area and it found an unmarked Spencer who was able to unleash a fantastic effort from just inside the area which sailed passed the helpless John Sullivan who remained rooted to the spot in the centre of the Millwall goal.
The goal appeared to have the desired effect and straight from the kick off the Lions were on the attack and after two half-decent chances came to nothing, on fourteen minutes, it was Billy Gibson who picked up a loose ball and began charging towards the Aldershot penalty area.
As he approached, defender Reece Tyler met him on the edge of the penalty area and managed to do enough to halt his run. However, Gibson turned and sent the ball to the opposite side of the pitch where he found Scott Barron. In turn, Barron rifled the ball long and low back into the danger area, and after it sailed past several Millwall onlookers - all of whom could have stuck the ball into the back of the net, it fell to last-in-line Lewis Grabban who thumped his effort beyond a rather static Shots defence for a fully deserved equaliser.
A minute later the Shots almost scored their second after Marvin Morgan was awarded a free kick having been bundled to the floor in front of the North Bank about twenty-five metres away from goal. Louie Soares stepped up and curled a brilliant ball high over the penalty area towards the goal, but as it travelled there was just too much bend on it and he saw his effort crash against the woodwork and rattle the entire goal and Millwall managed to clear their lines as the ball fell back into play.
On 17 minutes the beginning of the Shots second goal began. Marlon Jackson was brought down on the opposite side of the pitch, but in an almost identical position to the previous free kick and after Dan Howell blasted his first effort against the visitors' wall, the referee ordered the kick to be re-taken for infringement.
More arguing with the referee from Ali Fuseini meant a slight delay as the referee gave him further words of advice and when the signal was given for the restart, although the wall was clearly anything but the required ten yards away, Howell's sweet effort managed to evade everyone as it curled directly into the bottom left hand corner of the goal and settled into the back of the net on nineteen minutes.
Three minutes later Howell created a Shots counter-attacking move when Spencer passed the ball to him having intercepted a Lions attack. Quick thinking from Howell saw him launch the ball up the field to the waiting Jackson who carried the ball forwards and ran towards the goal. As he got closer to the penalty area and released his shot, Pat O'Conner just did enough to put him off and the ball sailed over the keeper but just wide of the right-hand upright.
British summer time officially began at the EBB Stadium on Tuesday afternoon ahead of the rest of the country as a sun-drenched EBB Stadium enjoyed an entertaining match between two attack-minded sides.
The Shots opened the fixture attacking the East Bank and after a short period of mixed possession between both sides where Millwall's Billy Gibson proved to be a handful, it was the Shots who settled into their game the quickest and began to stamp their mark on the game.
Some impressive link play between Dan Howell and Marvin Morgan started to cause some panic in the visitors defence and after just 11 minutes on the clock, it was Damian Spencer who managed to find the back of the net with what was The Shots' first real effort on target.
With Millwall captain Ali Fuselini committing a foul close to the sideline midway into his own half, he opted to remonstrate with the referee, which gave The Shots ample time to prepare their attacking options. By the time the visitors had thought about reorganising at the back Dean Howell had launched his long ball towards the visitors' penalty area and it found an unmarked Spencer who was able to unleash a fantastic effort from just inside the area which sailed passed the helpless John Sullivan who remained rooted to the spot in the centre of the Millwall goal.
The goal appeared to have the desired effect and straight from the kick off the Lions were on the attack and after two half-decent chances came to nothing, on fourteen minutes, it was Billy Gibson who picked up a loose ball and began charging towards the Aldershot penalty area.
As he approached, defender Reece Tyler met him on the edge of the penalty area and managed to do enough to halt his run. However, Gibson turned and sent the ball to the opposite side of the pitch where he found Scott Barron. In turn, Barron rifled the ball long and low back into the danger area, and after it sailed past several Millwall onlookers - all of whom could have stuck the ball into the back of the net, it fell to last-in-line Lewis Grabban who thumped his effort beyond a rather static Shots defence for a fully deserved equaliser.
A minute later the Shots almost scored their second after Marvin Morgan was awarded a free kick having been bundled to the floor in front of the North Bank about twenty-five metres away from goal. Louie Soares stepped up and curled a brilliant ball high over the penalty area towards the goal, but as it travelled there was just too much bend on it and he saw his effort crash against the woodwork and rattle the entire goal and Millwall managed to clear their lines as the ball fell back into play.
On 17 minutes the beginning of the Shots second goal began. Marlon Jackson was brought down on the opposite side of the pitch, but in an almost identical position to the previous free kick and after Dan Howell blasted his first effort against the visitors' wall, the referee ordered the kick to be re-taken for infringement.
More arguing with the referee from Ali Fuseini meant a slight delay as the referee gave him further words of advice and when the signal was given for the restart, although the wall was clearly anything but the required ten yards away, Howell's sweet effort managed to evade everyone as it curled directly into the bottom left hand corner of the goal and settled into the back of the net on nineteen minutes.
Three minutes later Howell created a Shots counter-attacking move when Spencer passed the ball to him having intercepted a Lions attack. Quick thinking from Howell saw him launch the ball up the field to the waiting Jackson who carried the ball forwards and ran towards the goal. As he got closer to the penalty area and released his shot, Pat O'Conner just did enough to put him off and the ball sailed over the keeper but just wide of the right-hand upright.
Louie Soares came close minutes later when his options appeared limited from all of 22 yards out. With no way through the Millwall defence, he opted to loft the ball towards the goal but sadly, he saw his effort sail inches over the crossbar.
Possession continued to sway between both sides and the match became a little bit scrappy around the half-hour mark, but this gave trialist Samuel Stewart a chance to be noticed as he continued to pick up loose balls and be in the right place at the right time.
The Shots' third goal came on 44 minutes when Tyler was brought down in front of the South Stand, midway into the Millwall half.
Dean Howell once again launched the ball into the penalty area and Aaron Brown managed to beat his marker to flick the ball into the net giving Sullivan no chance.
Half-time: 3-1
The interval saw Ben Hutchings come on for Aaron Brown, but it was Millwall who came out with renewed and sustained vigour as they took the game to the Shots.
Lewis Grabban and Marc Laird linked well in the opening stages of the restart and after Scott Barron fed the ball through to John Marquis on 53 minutes, it took a lucky decision from the assistant referee to save Aldershot blushes as the offside flag was raised in what must have been one of the closest decisions ever given.
Millwall continued to press and on 56 minutes, Billy Gibson found the ball on the edge of the penalty area in an unmarked position. With time on his hands, he turned around and looped the ball in towards the top right-hand corner of the Aldershot goal which forced a stunning save from Young, but Ashley Grimes was on hand with the follow-up and made no mistake from six yards out.
Morgan then made way for Josh Casey and on 60 minutes, Millwall won a free kick just outside the Shots' penalty area and Jamie Young had to produce his best save of the match when Billy Gibson curled his effort around the wall and Young had to parry the ball away from the danger area due to the force with which it was struck. Luckily for the Shots, the loose ball was cleared up the field.
On 64 minutes, Jackson made way for Josh Pearson and although Millwall continued to pile on the pressure, they resorted to playing long balls down the flanks which wasn't as effective as the short pass and run game they had been employing.
Ashley Grimes and Scott Barron worked well together on 78 minutes linking together and Grimes managed to force an outstanding diving save from Young with his powerful effort but the ball was luckily turned around the post and out for a corner rather than nestling in the back of the Aldershot net.
After 83 minutes, the first card of the game was picked up by Chris Hegarty after he brought down Dean Howell in the centre of the pitch following a poor tackle and although the Shots were looking comfortable, it was still the visitors who were pushing forwards more, yet finding it hard to produce the goods in the final third of the pitch.
None more so than on 85 minutes when Billy Gibson and John Marquis had the perfect opportunity to draw their side level. Their two man attack came up against just one Shots defender and the keeper, but when Gibson opted to lay the ball off to Marquis, his far easier sight of the target only resulted in a feeble effort that went straight into the welcoming arms of Young which pretty much summed up Millwall's luck.
Full time 3-2
Speaking to The Stray Shots after the match, Gary Owers said: "I think the match went well and the lads showed a really good attitude and when they're playing in the Reserves that's what it's all about.
"Once again there was a good mix of youth and experience out there and it was an entertaining game. We've never had a problem with these games and they've always been played at a good tempo and it's nice when you win them.
"We've won the game in the first half and the changes we made were made a couple of days ago in all fairness, but we've still managed to create a few half-chances in the second half so I'm please with how it went.
"Sam [Stewart] has come in - we've had trialists in and trialists out. He needs a few more games so we'll probably have him back for a couple more in the future. He hasn't played for quite a long time and unfortunately for him we had to leave him on, as we had to protect a few of the first team boys ahead of the game against Shrewsbury on Saturday, but I thought he did quite well."
Meanwhile Owers confirmed that interest in the three Irish players who featured in a recent friendly against Basingstoke will not be followed up saying: "They've been and gone, that's all finished with - we won't be following that up.
"There's lots of players being touted around at this time of the season, some of the lads are trying to set themselves up before next season as there will be hundreds of players unemployed.
"We don't mind looking at players and if they can perform and catch our eye then they've got a chance but we can't sign them all but that doesn't mean that we won't be looking at one or two more in the near future."
The Shots Reserves: Young, Tyler, Howell, Brown (B Hutchings), Nimmo, Stewart, Riza, Soares, Jackson (Pearson), Morgan (Casey) and Spencer.
Unused Subs: L Hutchings and Cox.
Millwall Reserves: Sullivan, Smith, Barron, Fuseini, O'Connor, Hegarty, Grabban (Hughes-Mason), Laird, Marquis, Grimes and Gibson.
Unused Subs: Drummond, Fitzsimons and Rogers.
Match Officials:
Referee: A Walmer
Assistant: N Iddiols
Assistant: M Webber
Fourth Official: M Leary
Photographs with thanks to Ian Morsman. To see Ian's other photos from the match visit www.theshots.co.uk