Hereford United 2 Aldershot Town 2

Last updated : 03 November 2010 By Shotsweb's Rob Worrall

A spirited Shots display, capped by a late equaliser from Wade Small, gained them a well earned point away to rejuvenated Hereford.

Forced to make changes following the suspensions of Morgan, Jones and Halls....manager Kevin Dillon sprang a surprise in selecting Marlon Jackson to spearhead the Shots attack rather than Danny Hylton. Ben Harding was favoured over Manny Panther in midfield and less surprisingly, Aaron Morris deputised for Jones at the heart of the Shots defence.

In a frenetic start, both teams tackled better than they passed and it was some time before a shot on goal was registered. Jermaine McGlashan, enjoying just his second start for Shots, had a couple of early swings, but the home side failed to read the warning signs and when, in the 20th minute, he found himself with the ball at his feet inside the area, McGlashan gleefully shot home from close range to give Aldershot the lead.

Then came a  pivotal moment. Glen Little, who performed well all night, lifted a perfectly weighted pass over the Bulls defence to put Jackson clean through on goal. Were Shots to go 2-0 up, they'd have been good value for that lead and fancied themselves to lgo on to victory, but Jackson hesitated, shot straight at Bulls keeper Bartlett and the opportunity was gone! Hereford went straight up the other end of the pitch, forced a corner and from it, Richard Rose headed home to level the scores. 

Shots might well have felt aggreived if they'd gone in level at half time, but things were about to get even worse! Just as the half time whistle approached, Mathieu Mansett - a handful all evening - outmuscled Shots skipper Anthony Charles and set Joe Colbeck free on the right. Colbeck took one touch and then shot low and hard past Young in the Shots goal, to put Hereford 2-1 up!

Barring a couple of Bulls breaks, in which Mansett and then Fleetwood could and should have done better, the second half was near enough all Shots!! Gutteridge, Jackson, McGlashan and Harding all went close...but the goal just wouldn't come.......until finally, in the 87th minute, Gutteridge let fly from 25 yards, Bartlett could only parry his stinging shot into the path of lively Shots substitute Wade Small, who gleefully smashed home a late leveller which gained Shots a deserved point!

That's basically the story of the match except to make perhaps one final point. Were it not for a breathtaking point blank save by Jamie Young from Stuart Fleetwood, Shots would have been 3-1 down and out of this match! Bravo Jamie and Bravo Shots for battling until the very end once again!!