A controversial penalty in the 89th minute gave the Shots a somewhat fortunate victory, and narrowed the gap between them and us to just five points with the Shots having four games in hand.
Ashley Vickers was adjudged to have impeded Gary Abbott although it appeared six of one, half a dozen of the other as Abbott was clearly backing in to Vickers. Referee Mr.Tingey, whose totally inept performance angered both sets of supporters, gave the spot kick which Abbott converted. Both John Pollard and Tony Roberts were booked for disputing the decision. These were the only bookings of the afternoon, which was amazing considering some of the late tackles by several Aldershot players, mostly on Lenny Piper!
Saints squandered a golden opportunity midway through the second half, when an Aldershot defender handled in the box to give us a penalty. Lenny Piper managed to send Andy Pape the wrong way but the kick went well wide of the post!
Saints gave a debut to new signing Simon Ullathorne from Crawley Town, replacing Wayne Andrews up front. Ullathorne had a good game and had one good chance to score in the first half when Pape saved his header from Paul Turner's free kick. Chances were few with only a couple of efforts of note for both teams, it looked a goal-less draw for certain after the missed penalty.
A much improved performance today despite the result. Ullathorne and Rob Haworth both worked hard up front without reward and Joe Lyons had an excellent game down the left. Mark Rooney limped off injured after only fifteen minutes to be replaced by Tom Meredith, who was awarded the Man of the Match award by the match sponsors.
Report By A. Hammond |
