Aldershot v Scunthorpe United

Saturday, December 3, 2005

English FA Cup

Aldershot :
Bull, Barnard, Somner, Heald, Brough (Jinadu 77), Deen (Gearing 62), Crittenden, Holloway, Tinnion, Turner, Scott (Watson 74)
Subs not used:
Weait, Sulaiman

Scunthorpe United :
Evans, Crosby, Byrne, Baraclough (Ridley 80), Beagrie, Butler, Keogh, Williams, Sharp (Taylor 87), Till, MacKenzie
Subs not used:
Johnson, Corden, Musselwhite

SULSESC REPORT

by Mal Watson at The Recreation Ground

ALDERSHOT. The home of the British Army. Its success over the years has been a large part due to careful planning and preparation.

In honour of this, a meticulous campaign was planned, taking advantage of this being a 'home' fixture for SULSESC, giving plenty of time for pre-match lubrication. An early train getting in before 11.30 - so far, so good. However, the chosen pub (and the alternative) did not open until 12.00. Could this be a bad omen for a potentially tricky FA Cup tie?

Aldershot had been on a good run, Scunny's form had dropped - the only thing in our favour was that it had not been chosen to be on Sky, for if it had we all know what the result would be!

However, this turned out not to be the embarrassment that it could so easily have been. Scunny started quite brightly and took the lead early in the first-half. Sharp was put clear on the right side of the box and although he could have driven closer and had a shot himself, he played an early ball to the edge of the six-yard box where Keogh, running in, had a straightforward chance that he knocked in easily.

This should have provided the platform for Scunny to get another goal or two to make the game safe but they could not finish it off. In a fairly open game, both sides had opportunities with Aldershot finding a bit too much space down the flanks, enabling them to get crosses into the Scunny box.

The final whistle came and although Aldershot felt that perhaps they deserved a draw, it was Scunny who had progressed to the third round but surely it was too much to expect another Premiership away fixture in the next round?