Aldershot Town FC

Football: Shots huff and puff in stalemate

By Charlie Oliver
November 16, 2009

Coca-Cola League 2

Aldershot Town 0 Macclesfield Town 0

FAILING to score for the first time in 11 league games at the Rec was hardly the most inspiring of starts for Aldershot under Kevin Dillon.

But another clean sheet, building on the legacy of two left by Jason Dodd, ensured that Dillon began with a point. Never underestimate the value of a point, as a certain ersthwile Aldershot manager often said.

Moreover, had Marvin Morgan not been so wayward with his finishing and Macclesfield goalkeeper Jon Brain so solid in goal, then Dillon would have been celebrating three points.

The manager was content with his lot at the final whistle. Wind had been the only winner: the difficult conditions and Macclesfield's impressively resolute defending never quite allowed Aldershot to play the flowing football normally so prevalent at the Rec. If the answer was blowin' in the wind for Bob Dylan, for Kevin Dillon it was the ball.

"The worst conditions you can play under as a footballer are windy ones - and it was exceptionally windy today," said Dillon afterwards.

"I'm very pleased. Three clean sheets in a row - I'm very happy with that and I'm happy with a draw.

"We lost [Adam] Hinshelwood at half-time and I thought Blackburn came on and did really well. We dominated their centre forwards and it's a good solid base to work from.

"I thought the performance was good. The players stuck to the roles I asked them to. When we got it down in the final third there was some great movement, some good inter-play and on another day Marvin Morgan could have had a couple of goals."

Dillon, unsurprisingly, stuck to the side Dodd had fielded in last weekend's 2-0 win over Bury in the FA Cup. John Halls made a welcome return to the squad, after injury.

But Aldershot struggled early on; choosing to have the gale at their backs proved to be a disadvantage, as the wind was so strong that the ball sailed all too often through to Brain. When Aldershot did get the ball on the floor, Dillon's players had to take an extra touch to keep it under control.

Macclesfield's Emile Sinclair had no such problems and was able to knock the ball into the wind on the right wing and test Andy Sandell's pace.

Initially, Sinclair won the battle and he was comfortbaly the most dangerous player on the pitch in the first 15 minutes, before Sandell adapted to the conditions and went on to have another solid game at fullback, helped by Sinclair's half-time exit, due to injury.

It took Aldershot nearly 20 minutes to have a shot - and a wayward one at that, from Scott Donnelly.
But, gradually, Dillon's men came to terms with the wind and Macclesfield's harrying, which was led by niggly midfielder Ross Darper.

Anthony Straker, combining well down the left with Sandell, dragged a shot just wide. Three minutes later Straker forced a fine save from Brain, thanks to a low, skiddy shot.

Paul Morgan then epitomised Macclesfield's commitment with a superb block from his namesake Marvin's goalbound shot, a minute before Donnelly curled a shot just over the bar.

Despite losing captain Hinshelwood to a hamstring problem at the break, Aldershot maintained their momentum into the second half.

Brain had already made a smart save from Hudson when, on 49 minutes, Morgan missed the best chance of the game. Slid into the inside-right channel by Hudson, Morgan dragged a shot just wide of the far post.

The longer the game went on, the nagging fear that Macclesfield would nick a goal grew stronger. Substitute Ben Wright wasted a couple of half-chances and Hamza Bencherif's shot from 25 yards hit the side netting, with Mikhael Jaimez-Ruiz scrambling to his right.

But Aldershot came again and dominated the last 15 minutes. On 79 minutes Morgan did well to reach Hudson's cross only for Brain to tip the shot away, when it looked to be past him.

"That was a tremendous save," said Dillon. "I'm glad Marvin is missing chances as it means we are creating them. Marvin will score goals - he's a talented lad."

Morgan and Louie Soares both went on to miss the target in the last ten minutes, as Dillon resisted the temptation to introduce another forward from the bench.

"I think you tend to change formations when you are down," said Dillon. "It was 0-0 and I was never going to bring Marvin off. Yes, I did think about bringing Granty on and going with two up front but I wanted to stay solid, too."

Dodd scarcely used Danny Hylton at all and Dillon did not mention him, either. Hylton should not be overlooked forever and his unorthodox, unpredictable style of play might have unsettled Macclesfield's steady defence, for whom left-back Carl Tremarco stood out in particular.

It is no surprise that Dillon was a little conservative in his first game, however. He is far more of a pragmatist than Gary Waddock - whose new Wycombe side shipped six goals at Huddersfield on Saturday - and Dillon was clearly keen to keep faith with a team and formation that is looking increasingly sound defensively.

Macclesfield, as they showed last season against Aldershot, are tricky opponents and they have now lost just once in eight league games.

With better finishing from Aldershot, this would have been a second defeat in eight games. Dillon may be new to management but he has been in coaching long enough to know that a point, keeping a clean sheet and creating plenty of chances added up to a quietly encouraging start to his tenure.

"First game in charge: a draw. I'm happy with that result," said Dillon.

Aldershot Town: Jaimez-Ruiz, Herd, Straker, Hinshelwood (Blackburn 46), Charles, Chalmers (Harding 90), Soares, Donnelly, Morgan, Hudson, Straker. Not used: Masters, Halls, Hopkinson, Grant, Hylton.

Macclesfield Town: Brain, Reid, Tremarco, Morgan, Brisley, Bencherif, Bell, Draper, Sappleton (Wright 66), Sinclair (Tipton 46), Daniels (Bolland 89).

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