The Shots Ladies prepare for their second visit to the Isle of Wight this season when they take on Shanklin for a place in the Semi-Finals of the Hampshire Women’s Cup this coming Sunday.
Shanklin will be a side very much taken seriously by Jamie Woodfield as his side have only managed to record one victory against them in their last five fixtures when they won 4-2 on the Island back in 2008-09.
The Hampshire Cup is the last knockout competition that The Shots find themselves in, having been comfortably defeated by 3 goals to 1 at Andover New Street on Tuesday evening in the League Cup Quarter-Final.
The Shots were required to fill a missing gap in defence in that tie, with Amber Marsh replaced by Sian Houghton, who joined Tara Coles, Di Smith and Holly Gayler at the back, with a midfield five of Tracy Marlow, Emma North, Caz Shephard, Nikki Moore and Kirsty Palfreyman across the midfield with Jade Ferguson as the lone striker.
Andover established a 2-0 lead in the opening 20-minutes, however Marlow grabbed her 6th of the season just before the break to give The Shots a fighting chance.
The Shots pushed Marlow up front for a traditional 4-4-2 formation in the second half in an effort to try and get themselves back into the game.
Andover thought they had a third just a few minutes after the restart – but were denied it by an offside flag from assistant Matt Leary on the far side.
However a couple of minutes later and the third goal did come for the hosts, leaving The Shots with a hill to climb but they were unable to respond to Andover’s devastating pace on the counter-attack.
Aldershot however can look on the bright side as Kirsty Strachan played for the final 20-minutes having been out injured for several months, and is likely to be in the starting line-up at the weekend.
Elsewhere, John O’Brien’s Under 17’s side continue to progress in their league, drawing 4-4 against Camberley Town in a frantic match that both sides could easily have won had they taken their chances.
Amy scored two inside the first half, rounding the keeper on both occasions before Lauren scored two sublime goals in the second half. The bad news for the U17’s was however, that every time they scored, the opposition managed to grab one back and The Shots were never able to extend their lead.
The U17’s face Haslemere Town at home this Sunday (23rd), kick off at Farnborough Gate is at 11am.