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Bereft Shots Gift Bees First Win In 15

With worrying echoes of twelve months ago, Aldershot Town were utterly powerless to prevent Barnet from earning their first win in 15 matches.

Abject for the second week in succession, The Shots this time received exactly what their performance deserved. Simply by being sold and well-organised at the back, and with a bit of pace in attack, The Bees proved too much for the visitors, who foundered on Gary Breen’s offside trap.

Either side of half-time, Aldershot had threatened to rouse themselves into something approaching the free-flowing team which had won the reverse fixture so comprehensively on Boxing Day, but otherwise this was a display lacking cohesion, guile and intelligence.

Barnet v Aldershot Town

Once again, Aldershot Town look to avoid being just what the doctor ordered. Ailing Grimsby’s winless streak so very nearly came to an end at The EBB Stadium last weekend, and now The Shots pay a home visit to another of League Two’s sickest patients.

14 games without a win and earning five points from a possible 39, Barnet have plummeted like Icarus after daring to fly too high in the season’s opening month. Briefly top of the table, and still third at the beginning of October, their current position of 19th has plotted a steep learning curve for manager Ian Hendon.

Shots All At Sea Against Mariners

Labouring through their own lethargy, Aldershot Town may have rescued a point but ultimately this was a missed opportunity.

Abject for the opening 45 minutes and fortunate to be just a single goal behind, they were galvanised for much of the second half but still relied on Adam Proudlock’s embarrassing penalty miss to avoid being the victims of Grimsby’s first win in 19 matches.

Danny Hylton proved the catalyst for The Shots’ resurgence, linking well with fellow substitute Marvin Morgan in a new 4-4-2 formation, and snatched the equaliser on 68 minutes. Morgan and Soares flicked on Jaimez-Ruiz’s long free kick and Hylton drove the ball into the far corner.

Late Drama At End Of Transfer Window?

With typically dramatic timing, the closing of the January transfer window might have had a nasty twist in the tale for Aldershot Town.

With the 5pm deadline apparently safely negotiated, Sky Sports News reported that The Shots had finally agreed a fee with Wycombe Wanderers for midfielder Scott Donnelly, only to be beaten by the clock.

The deal, and subsequent compromise - of Donnelly moving when the loan windiow re-opens next week, with a view to a permanent transfer in the summer - conflicts with Kevin Dillon's assertion that no offer had been accepted.

Two players had earlier arrived at The Rec: Bristol City goalkeeper Stephen Henderson and, on trial, striker Omer Riza.

Only in a game of such deliciously mad, bad and ultimately dangerous chaos could Anthony Straker’s extraordinary winning goal – a back-heel into the bottom corner amidst a crowded penalty area – seem entirely appropriate.

The 87th minute goal sent Aldershot Town up to sixth in the table and condemned faltering Bournemouth to their third consecutive defeat, but it was not the final image of a game which had simmered for much of the second half and eventually boiled over.

The visitors ended with 10 men after Warren Cummings was sent off for volleying the ball into the Shots dug-out from point-blank range. Waiting to take a throw-in, substitute goalkeeper Clark Masters inadvertently threw a replacement ball into his face, and the incident sparked a brawl in which Cummings – fortunate to escape a yellow card earlier in the game for several combustible challenges – and Chalmers appeared ready to throw punches.