Aldershot Town FC

Holdsworth coming up roses as Shots win at home

By Jon Couch
February 16, 2012

IT was Valentine’s night at the EBB Stadium. Ladies were let in free, the cold snap was replaced by a somewhat warmer glow and there was love in the air again for the Aldershot Town die-hards who had feared the worst for their season.

After a desperate run of just two points and no goals from six games, the Shots have now registered back-to-back league wins for the first time since November and suddenly the roses are blooming again in the Rec garden.

Guy Madjo’s predatory tap-in early in the second half proved just enough to see off a dogged 10-man Hereford United, while ensuring Dean Holdsworth’s men picked up where they left off at AFC Wimbledon prior to the big freeze kicking in.

That will come as a huge relief to boss Holdsworth, who has had a tough time of things over the past few weeks.

Replacing the likes of Luke Guttridge, Jermaine McGlashan and Jamie Collins, not to mention long-term absentees Alex Rodman and Michael Rankine, has not proved easy, especially when heavily restricted by budget restraints.

But replace them he has done, and all of a sudden in the likes of Josh Payne, Darren Murphy – an impressive debutant on Tuesday night – and new Namibian international striker Wilko Risser, the boss has injected a new lease of life into his squad and looks to have discovered a winning formula.

“It’s been like an end-of-season break,” Holdsworth explained.

“It’s almost like we’ve come into a new season. We’ve set a 19-game season for ourselves and to see if we can get close to the top of the league.

"The boys have worked so hard. There’s a good feeling about the squad, a lot of competition for places, a lot of different options, and I'm delighted.”

So much so that Holdsworth has not even ruled out the possibility of his side going on a winning run and making a late burst for the play-offs.

“Confidence and consistency breed each other,” he added.

“It was testament to the team that no-one let their head drop when we were on a bad run.

"We’re 10 points clear of relegation and we’re creeping closer to the play-off picture. With a run of form, who knows where it can get us?

“I’m a believer in being positive around the place and hopefully that rubs off on the players. We’re looking up, we’re not looking down, and that’s important.”

Unsurprisingly, Holdsworth stuck to the trusted 4-1-4-1 formation which served him so well at AFC Wimbledon, with Murphy occupying the holding midfielder role left vacated by Collins, while Risser and Crawley loanee Ben Smith could only make the bench along with young forward Reece Connolly, back from a successful loan spell at Farnborough.

Sadly though, no-one on show from either side could conjure up enough invention to liven up a rather uninspiring opening 45 minutes, although both had their chances to take a lead into the break.

Madjo fired high and wide after a tenacious run, while Yoann Arquin might have done better at the other end with a 15-yard effort after the Shots could only half-clear a Bulls’ set-piece.

Indeed, Adam Mekki’s dipping 20-yard effort which just flew just too high and Tom Barkhuizen’s fizzing effort for Hereford – both occurring in the final few minutes of the half – were the only two moments of qualityin the first period.

Holdsworth’s Shots needed to find an extra gear and eight minutes into the restart came their reward.

Mekki read well to intercept a half-hit defensive clearance and played the ball back into the danger zone with a towering header, where Madjo was lurking for his first goal in Aldershot colours.

It was also Shots first home goal for more than two months and finally brought light to a few unused bulbs on the new High Street scoreboard.

With that monkey off their back, Aldershot began to settle down and their task became a whole lot easier 11 minutes later when a dithering Michael Townsend lost his footing in dealing with a through ball for Danny Hylton and rather innocuously hauled down the Shots striker by the shoulders.

Although it was soft, referee Simon Hooper had no option but to dismiss the Bulls centre back as the last man.

Payne almost compounded Hereford’s misery three minutes later with a fiercely-hit strike from the corner of the box which just flew wide of the far post.

Credit to Hereford though, they kept plugging away with Will Evans forcing a fine diving save from Ross Worner with a 30-yard free kick.

But despite the referee ordering an agonising six added minutes at the end, the Shots never really looked in any danger of letting slip a much-needed victory.

A relieved Holdsworth added: “I’m delighted with a lot of aspects of tonight. It was never going to be a classic as Hereford work extremely hard and play to a set system, but we knew there would be a moment during the game where we would get a chance so I’m delighted with the 1-0 and, of course, the clean sheet.

“It gives us a start because we hadn’t won here for a while. I’m delighted that those people who turned up tonight can go home with three points in their pocket because they've sung throughout the game, as they normally do, and it gives us a real lift.”

ALDERSHOT: Worner, Herd, Straker, Jones, Bradley, Murphy (Morris 69), J Payne, Vincenti (Connolly 69), Mekki, Hylton, Madjo (Risser 80). Subs: Smith, Brown. Ref: Simon Hooper.

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