Giving it our best Shot vs Aldershot (L2)

I'd never been to Aldershot before, but after missing the two New Year matches I just had to be there today. It's an awkward journey for me, and I had been rather put off by lurid descriptions of Aldershot - most of which portrayed it as something like downtown Beiruit, but with KwikSave.

The non-appearance of my ticket meant that I was driving to an all ticket match without a ticket, adding another level of uncertainty. I had rung the OUFC ticket office the night before and the helpful chap there said he'd add me to the list of people in a similar situation and that I could collect a replacement ticket at the Shots ticket office.

Arriving in Aldershot, it didn't look as bad as I feared. I even managed to park in the car park next to the ground. A quick trip to the ticket office and I was sorted (although my name didn't appear to be on any list, they gave me a replacement ticket easily enough). Back to the car for a listen to Arsenal vs Leeds for a bit. Time for a leisurely stroll onto the terrace.

Not. The stroll to the away terrace involved walking past the ground, down the road, turning left and wandering up a hill, going over the railway into a park and back down into the 'Recreation Ground', ending up (after about 15 minutes) about 100 yards from where I'd parked the car. My lungs are a bit crap at the moment, so by the time I got there I was puffing like a Sumo wrestler on 60 a day.

The 'Rec' is a bit of a wreck. One end is not fit for use, and the most vocal Shots fans are housed in the same cavernous barn-like stand as the away fans. Which does make for a decent atmosphere - the quality of the Shots support exceeding that of their team or the size of the home crowd. They do have a bloody drum, which is at least played in time. Thanks for small mercies. The whole experience is a bit 'non-league' though, which is where Aldershot might end up if they don't get their act togther.

The toilets are portaloos - I went before the match started, but I imagine they were fairly rank a couple of hours later after the 850 or so Yellows fans had got rid of all that beer.

A minutes silence before the game was observed immaculately - this time the TVP didn't think it was worth filming us standing up doing nothing.

The stand itself has an unfeasable number of iron girder supports right at the front. I moved several times before I had a reasonable view of both goals. That wasn't helped by the Aldershot sun aping that which shines at the Kassam, shining straight into the eyes of the fans in the main stand and those of the goalie down that end in the first half. Of course those crafty Shots won the toss and put us in to bat at that very end - Ryan Clarke had to brrow a cap from one of the Oxford faithful so he could see the Shots shots raining in on him (or not!).

Apart from the own goal scored by the Shots after about ten minutes (ta very much), the first half was fairly pedestrian. We fizzed a couple of crosses across the face of their goal, Jake Wright (or was it Maclaren?) tried to give a penalty away, failed and then tried to score an answering own goal with a peach of a diving header, failing at that as well. But Aldershot, as the home team and a goal behind, really offered very very little. We amused ourselves with some songs about Marvin Morgan, their disgraced striker, who made some ill judged comments about the supporters on Facebook. Why do footballers do that? The most entertaining thing about the first half was the singing (by both sets of fans) with with Oxford contingent easily holding their own. It was the first time I'd seen our new midfield stopper Maclaren play, and I was fairly impressed. He certainly protected the middle, won the ball and distributed it fairly well. Up front, Jack 'hat-trick hero' Midson worked hard (and tried to win a penalty that looked a bit 'theatrical' from where I was stood), but we were content for the most part to soak up what little pressure the Shots could manage.

Half time didn't involve much of anything apart from the sun saying goodnight and the temperature plummeting.

The Shots came out after half time with the look of a team that had been dodging tea cups for ten minutes, and took the initiative for the first few minutes. They soon ran out of steam though, with their only conceivable threat down our left, where we look a bit frail whether Tonks or Kinni are doing full back duty. Jack went off and was replaced by Beano, who went straight into default Beano mode - working like a Trojan, getting involved with everything and straying offside at every possible opportunity. We were getting pushed back a bit though, with Aldershot having to try and find an equaliser. Clist had a header narrowly wide and Asa Hall sent a screamer just over.

Then Aldershot scored a thoroughly undeserved equaliser, beating Batt down our right and crossing for a scrambled equaliser past the floundering Clarke. (Clarke, by the way has got over his unfortunate case of 'dropsy' - everything he caught stuck firm today.) There was about 15 minutes to go, and the idea that we might lose the match was a bit of a nightmare, having been so much the better team. Aldershot scented blood and started running at our defence. Most of the time though they seemed to forget that they actually had to score a goal in order to win the match, and didn't really look very dangerous. A draw was looming, when after some good work by Beano on the right, Maclean got the ball and passed up a half chance to shoot himself, intelligently laying the ball off to the much maligned Tom Craddock who gleefully accepted the chance, sending the yellow hordes loopy. There were still a few minutes left, but the Shots bubble had been well and truly burst.

The walk back to the car was at least downhill, and the chavs with shanks in the hood (i'm down with the kids!) were too busy baying for their manager's blood to bother with us. Or they've all seen the light and converted to Buddhism - one of the two. There were unfeasable amounts of Hampshire Police around which might also have helped I suppose, including police on bicycles and horses - wonder if there's a promotion path that involves roller skates and mopeds? However the police were actually very friendly, chatting with the fans as we walked along.

Another away win, another worthwhile away trip.

Quick thoughts:

Maclaren is a good addition.
It's still vital we keep Maclean.
Once Asa scores one, he'll score a few.
We could do with being a little less elaborate sometimes - let's mix it up with a bit of direct running through the middle of the opposition defence.
A couple of months ago, out heads would have gone down after the equaliser and we would have lost this match, but we have discovered a battling spirit that will serve us well over the season.
Fourth match in a row I have won last season's yellow shirt - and the fourth 2-1 win.