Shots 3-1 Droylsden

Last updated : 21 August 2007 By Stray Shots Team
The Bloods suffered their first defeat of the season at the Recreation Ground, but can have few complaints after a slick Aldershot side eventually ran-out comfortable winners, and Droylsden supremo Dave Pace gave credit to his opponents afterwards.

"I thought we made loads of mistakes in the second half. I'm disappointed to lose the game, as we worked well in the first half, closing people down and trying to stop them from playing, which we achieved. But, once we stopped doing that, their quality showed through - they are a fantastic team when you give them time on the ball" he explained after the game.

In the opening exchanges, Aldershot created numerous chances, but wasted all of them, so could have had little complaint when Droylsden stole the lead on 25 minutes. A Robert Marsh-Evans free kick was helped-on by Chris Denham, and Terry Fearns kept his composure to hold off the attentions of the Aldershot defence, and lob the stranded Nikki Bull to open his account for the season.

With a half-time lead and the prospect of playing down the slope, Droylsden hoped for better in the second half. However, Shots manager Gary Waddock made two changes at half-time, with Jonny Dixon pulling the strings, and John Grant continuing where he left off in the first half, keeping the Bloods' centre halves occupied for most of the time.

The inevitable equaliser came just before the hour mark, when Droylsden failed to clear Scott Davies' deep free kick, which fell to Anthony Charles on the right side of the box. He turned to cross the ball back into the danger area, and Grant swivelled to volley across Paul Phillips and into the corner of the net.

Ten minutes later, the Shots finally gained the lead, when Colin Cryan, of all people, was caught in possession on the edge of his own box, and Jonny Dixon fed Lewis Chalmers, who coolly clipped the ball over the advancing Phillips to make it 2-1, leaving Cryan with his head in his hands.

Jody Banim then went close on two occasions for the Bloods, but he failed to get sufficient lift on his lob to beat Bull, and he later screwed a shot wide.

However, it was mostly one-way traffic in the other direction, and the home side finally made the game safe with eight minutes remaining when Ben Harding volleyed home from close range, giving Phillips no chance.

Hopefully, Droylsden's enviable home record will stand them in good stead for Saturday's test against Exeter City, otherwise a tough afternoon's work may be on the cards again.

ALDERSHOT: Bull, Gier, Straker, Charles (Winfield, 88), Day, Soares (Hudson, 46), Harding, Chalmers, Davies, Grant, Elvins (Dixon, 46).
Subs not used: Hylton, Jaimez-Ruiz.

DROYLSDEN: Phillips, Hotte, Marsh-Evans, Cryan, Robinson, Murphy (Lynch, 55), Tandy (Norton, 61), McGuire, Fearns (Banim, 61), Daly, Denham.
Subs not used: Gibson, Senior (G/K).

ATTENDANCE: 1,773

REFEREE: Mr. John Hopkins (Essex)

Source: http://www.droylsdenfc.co.uk