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Football: Straker's heeling touch
By Charlie OliverJanuary 25, 2010
Coca-Cola League Two
Aldershot Town 2 AFC Bournemouth 1
ON the evidence of the last week, Aldershot have a fighting chance of promotion.
After an excellent point at home to leaders Rochdale, the Shots followed it up with deserved victory over second-placed Bournemouth.
Those four points have put Kevin Dillon's Aldershot in sixth, with games in hand on many of the teams around them.
But while the Rochdale match was a gem of a game, this one was a rough diamond. Increasingly fractious, in a raucous atmosphere, it ended in open discord, after Bournemouth fullback Warren Cummings booted the ball at the Aldershot dugout.
A melee followed, after which Cummings and Aldershot's reserve goalkeeper, Clark Masters, were given red cards. Masters, on the bench, had enraged Cummings by lobbing the ball at his head, when Cummings was trying to take a throw-in with a different ball.
Replays suggested Masters' action was neither aggressive nor deliberate but it was little surprise that Cummings thought otherwise. His reaction was extraordinary, however, and, within seconds, more than 20 players and staff were involving in a confrontation that, thankfully, remained a shoving match rather than anything more violent.
Amid the bedlam, it was easy to forget that Anthony Straker had won the proper match just a few minutes before. Yes, Straker, whose only previous goal for Aldershot in more than 100 appearances had come in the Setanta Shield nearly two years ago.
That had been a rasping drive against Woking with his wrong - his right - foot and this was even more audacious, a backheel with that very same boot.
So, forget the chaos; Dillon's house is in very good order, on the back of five wins and three draws from his nine league games in charge.
Rochdale look set to win the division at a canter but the other promotion and play-offs spots are up for grabs; Bournemouth, in second, are now just six points ahead of the Shots, having played two games more.
On this evidence, however, Bournemouth are flattered by their lofty placing. Manager Eddie Howe has been limited by a transfer embargo but his squad are limited, too. The Cherries relied on long balls up to Steve Fletcher, with leading-scorer Brett Pitman feeding off the pickings.
Early in the second half, it worked a treat and Bournemouth scored a deserved equaliser, after Chris Blackburn had pushed Fletcher in the area. Pitman drove home from the spot.
But Aldershot had been the better side in a poor first half, littered with far too many ineffective headers in the midfield, but lit up by a fabulous freekick from the outstanding Andy Sandell, which gave the Shots the lead in the 21st minute.
Later, the Shots finished the stronger. Anthony Charles headed against the bar and Shwan Jalal made a remarkable save from Straker, just before the substitute's backheel won the points.
That winner came in the 87th minute, just as Louie Soares' equaliser had done against Rochdale. Some sportsmen - notably Australia's cricketers - believe 87 to be an unlucky number but it has helped Dillon's side to two good results this week.
"I didn't think the goal was going to come. That first save from Straker was like Jim Montgomery's in the '73 Cup Final," said Dillon afterwards, like a true son of Sunderland.
"But in the end it was the correct result. We deserved to win the game, it was their goalkeeper who had to make saves.
"It's terrific to get four points this week. I thought we played really well in the first half but Bournemouth threw a lot of long balls into our box in the second.
"We didn't play well for a 20-minute period but then I saw another side of the team and I liked it. We won because we dug deep." Indeed, the Shots dug in, before the dugout shenanigans took over.
Dillon had started with pretty much the side that had finished the game against Rochdale. John Grant was missing, however, with a toe injury, so Dillon began with a 4-5-1 formation, rather than playing two up front.
The manager intimated afterwards that he would have started that way, even if both Grant and Marvin Morgan had been fit; while Dillon likes to play two strikers, he believes his squad is more suited to five in midfield. "That's the basis we work from," he said. "We start there and can change to 4-4-2 during a game."
Five in midfield allowed a start for Oliver Bozanic. After a quiet first half, he became the game's most influential midfielder in the second and played a key role in Straker's winning goal.
Soares, who started on the left, wasted a good chance in the opening seconds. Morgan forced a fine block from Jalal soon afterwards and the Shots' pressure paid off, when Ryan Garry hacked down Marlon Jackson in full flight, on the edge of the area.
The freekick was in pretty much the same spot as from where Sandell had scored against Barnet on Boxing Day. He repeated the trick, curling a powerful left-footed shot into the top corner, on his 50th appearance for the Shots.
Sandell was compared to Stuart Pearce on these pages after that Barnet performance and he was at it again, as much for his crunching tackles as the freekick. It was no surprise to hear 'Psycho Sandell' named as man-of-the-match.
"Stuart Pearce - I'll take that as a comparison. I like that," said Sandell afterwards. "I just put my head or leg in the way, whatever it takes. It's the way I've always played."
Liam Feeney, a close friend of Sandell from their days together at Salisbury City, had the misfortune of being marked by the Shots' swashbuckling fullback. One ball leathered into Feeney's nether regions was particularly eye-watering; Feeney should pick his friends more carefully in the future.
The Cherries did show signs of ripening later in the first half and Chris Blackburn had to make an outstanding block from Pitman's shot.
Howe's side started far stronger in the second half, too. Aldershot looked nervous and, on the hour, Cummings' high freekick into the area forced Blackburn to push Fletcher.
Dillon was annoyed with the decision and pointed out to the fourth official that his players had not complained because he does not allow them to - not because they agreed with referee Simon Hooper.
Even so, it did appear to be one of the few decisions that Hooper, who was pernickety all game, got right on the afternoon. Pitman, who had missed two from three penalties earlier in the season, kept his nerve to score.
But Bournemouth failed to build on their momentum. Instead, Aldershot came again. Charles' downward header, from Bozanic's clever turn and cross, bounced up to clip the bar. Then Morgan fired over and was unlucky a ricochet off Jalal did not fall more kindly.
By now, tempers were frayed. Garry was very fortunate not to be given a second yellow card and a number of other bookings followed. Aldershot went on to receive as many as five.
The Cherries' mood darkened further with three minutes to go. Seconds after making that wonderful save, Jalal was beaten by the Straker's cheeky backheel, after Bozanic had once again spun and crossed from a tight space.
Straker's rare, late goal sparked joyous scenes but there was plenty more drama to come. Sandell was booked for making a hard but fair tackle and then Ben Herd and the pesky Pitman were cautioned for squaring up to each other.
That was a mere contretemps compared to what followed on the touchline, as a ball to the head saw Cummings lose his.
Dillon defended Masters' involvement: "We were trying to make a substitution and the referee rightly said that Bournemouth should use the ball we had in the dugout, rather than the one they threw to their fullback. We can't change to a multi-ball system, just because they want to.
"Our reserve goalkeeper threw the ball underarm. It might have hit him [Cummings] in the face but there was no intention. Of course it was an overreaction from their player. It was silly."
But a silly season this is not; Aldershot are now serious contenders in the promotion-chasing pack.
Five games against teams in the bottom half of the table over the next three weeks - four of which are away from home - will put those credentials to the test.
First up are Accrington, with many games in hand on most, on Tuesday; they are a better side than their position suggests. Dillon, for one, is remaining cautious over Aldershot's chances for the season.
"I'm probably more pessimistic than optimistic, that's my character," he said. "We have a good squad but it's a small squad - so we'll just have to see how we go."
Dillon is right: his squad is vulnerable to injury or suspension to key players, especially in defence. But four points in a week against the top two is an excellent start to 2010. Now Dillon's side must not waste their hard work.
Aldershot Town: Jaimez-Ruiz, Herd, Sandell, Blackburn, Charles, Harding, Bozanic, Donnelly (Hudson 80), Morgan, Jackson (Winfield 90), Soares (Straker 72). Not used: Masters, Howell, Chalmers, Hylton.
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