14/4/2008

Sport

Elvins heads Shots to a point from promotion

FOOTBALL teams rarely make things easy for their loyal supporters and Saturday was no exception for the Aldershot faithful.

Yet again the Shots won — a record 31st Conference victory of the season, taking them to 97 points — but this, especially in the first half, was too often a nervous, patchy and lethargic performance. As so often, the skills of keeper Nikki Bull were the difference between three points and very possibly none, although the wayward finishing of Burton Albion’s Shaun Harrad helped Aldershot no end too.

From the off, the bumper crowd of nearly 6,000 was fairly subdued. Perhaps most in the ground had already guessed that this would not be the day of Aldershot's resurrection back to the Football League. And so it proved: Aldershot needed to better Torquay’s result at Stevenage Borough to clinch promotion. Just as at Ebbsfleet last Tuesday evening, results were going Aldershot's way after Rob Elvins’ 36th minute header at the Rec, but the Gulls did not play ball at Broadhall Way, coming from behind to win 3-1.

Aldershot can now only clinch promotion at the Rec if they contrive to lose away to Exeter City and Halifax Town this week and Torquay beat Northwich, Rushden & Diamonds and York City. If that happens, the Shots would still need a point in front of their own fans against Weymouth a week tonight (Tuesday April 22). For the good health of thousands of hearts, hopefully the job will be done and dusted long before then.

After all, despite the jittery performance, Aldershot did what they had to do and now require just one point from four remaining games. At this stage of the season the manner of victory is irrelevant. Championships are won by points picked up when a side is not at their best; it is all about the three points, as a certain flame-haired manager might say.

Besides, this was typical Aldershot. Winning by the odd goal is de rigeur for their season — 21 of their 31 victories have come in this manner — and the Shots are certainly back in fashion, judging by the national media presence at the Rec on Saturday.

Waddock was unsurprisingly very happy in victory and typically honest in his assessment of a tough game for his side. “I’m delighted with the result,” said Waddock. “We rode our luck, we had large slices of it, but we got three points. But you need a little bit of luck to win anything. When all is said and done we have kept a clean sheet and got the three points.”

Waddock admitted it would have been ‘lovely’ to have won the championship on the day but, with the situation out of his side’s hands, he was unsurprised that they are not quite there yet.

“We knew before the game that we needed four points to make sure and there are only three at stake in any one given game,” said Waddock. “The players have done a job today. All we can do is pick up points and results. We can’t affect results elsewhere. But now that we need one point from four games, it is in our hands.”

Burton had outplayed the Shots in a 2-0 victory at the Pirelli Stadium in October and did likewise for much of this game, despite Nigel Clough choosing to rest key striker Daryl Clare, who had the slightest of niggles, presumably with key matches still to come in mind, against play-off rivals Stevenage Borough and Exeter City. Had Clare played, the result may well have been different. Instead, Burton — especially Harrad — wasted all their good approach work.

Burton is famous for being tasty — beer, Bovril, Branston's Pickle and Marmite all hail from the banks of the Trent — and their football gave Aldershot’s creaky defence, again missing injured captain Rhys Day, plenty of food for thought.

Burton’s passing and movement was crisp and incisive and gave Waddock’s side a taste of their own medicine. Burton are, after all, taught by Clough and Gary Crosby, two star scholars of the football academy that Clough’s late father, Brian, ran at Nottingham Forest. But, on the day, how they could have done with the clinical finishing Clough Junior enjoyed as a player at Forest.

In the first half Marc Goodfellow headed wide of a gaping goal and Jake Edwards scooped inches over. Bull made two good blocks, as did Anthony Straker, Aldershot’s best defender on the day.

On the stroke of half-time Harrad, clean through, with time and space at his disposal, was denied by Bull's fingertips, even if referee Kinseley, who was pedantic throughout, awarded a goal-kick.

“There was almost no point in creating the chances if you are not going to take them,” said Clough afterwards. “When you miss chances of the quality that we made today then I don’t think there is any bad luck involved at all.”

Besides, by Harrad's miss, Aldershot were ahead. They had created nothing going forward for the first half hour, and it was little wonder that coach Martin Kuhl barked out: “We’ve got to start playing,” at his listless players. Finally Straker supplied much-needed energy and almost burst clear from left-back, after a one-two with Louie Soares.

A minute later, completely against the run of play, Elvins headed the Shots ahead, with his third goal in four games. Joel Grant, preferred to Kirk Hudson, had a very quiet afternoon but he did supply the cross for Elvins, who had timed his run well, to head past veteran keeper Kevin Poole, aged 44, who should never have come for the ball in the first place.

“I’m delighted for Rob again,” said Waddock. “He’s worked extremely hard for this club and is chipping in with goals now. He seems to have settled down into the team.”

Aldershot were far more potent going forward in the second half, especially after the introduction of Hudson with 25 minutes to go, and at least created a series of chances. But it was Burton who continued to enjoy the best of them.

Harrad was clean through again on 47 minutes but his touch let him down. He then shot just wide, this time under pressure from Ricky Newman, before smacking the inside of Bull's near post in the 75th minute, when it looked easier to score, after a fine run and cross from Goodfellow.

In injury-time Bull saved superbly with his feet from substitute Matt Williams, after Anthony Charles, not for the first time, fell over. When Burton finally did get the ball in the net, Darren Stride’s finish, at the death, was ruled out by an offside flag. The Rec breathed a collective sigh of relief; Bull blew a kiss at the referee’s assistant.

Soares, Hudson and Elvins all went close for the Shots in the second half but it wouldn't really be Aldershot if they had opened up a two-goal lead. After all, this side prefers a narrow win — and this one was as narrow as they come.

The good news is that Aldershot don’t need another win; all that is needed now is just one more point. And, with Bull in goal, it will happen.

Aldershot: Bull, Gier, Straker, Newman, Charles, Chalmers, Soares (Donnelly 82), Harding, John Grant, Elvins, Joel Grant (Hudson 66). Not used: Jaimez-Ruiz, Hylton, Mendes.

First printed in: Aldershot News and Mail