Carling Cup 1st Round

Coventry City 3 Aldershot Town 1

Gary Waddock’s stated aim before this match was for his side ‘to give a good account of themselves’.

Aldershot did not disappoint their manager. Waddock’s League Two newcomers matched their Championship hosts for much of the first half and went in level at 1-1, albeit thanks to a rather fortuitous first Aldershot goal for Marvin Morgan.

Granted, Chris Coleman’s Coventry were far too potent and powerful in the second half and the gulf in class did show. The Sky Blues really ought to have added more than Robbie Simpson’s brace but Nikki Bull was inspirational in goal for the Shots as the Sky Blues sealed a 3-1 win and a home tie with Newcastle United in the second round.

Waddock’s men nonetheless kept going right until the end; they did not wilt under the Coventry pressure and nor did they compromise their passing game. This was a performance to make Aldershot fans proud and those of them that made the journey to the West Midlands - just shy of 900 of them -  responded in kind, with a raucous support that reverberated around the Ricoh Arena.

“We can’t argue with the result but the performance was the main thing,” said Waddock afterwards.

“Coming to such a big and new stadium like this, I just wanted us to perform. I didn’t want the players to freeze on what is a pretty big stage – and they didn’t. I wanted to make sure that the result didn’t get away from us and it didn’t, even in the second half. I know late on we made a few mistakes that allowed them in but we stayed in the game and everyone should be pleased.

“One day we would like to be competing at this level on a regular basis. That’s the aim. There is a lot of hard work and a number of years needed to get to this level but this has been a great experience for everyone tonight.”

Waddock fielded an unchanged side from Saturday’s 1-0 League Two victory at Accrington Stanley. And the Shots, buoyed by that win and showing no signs of nerves, nearly stole an early lead.

John Grant raced onto Ben Harding’s astute pass and beat teenage debutant goalkeeper Danny Ireland with a brave lob, only for Ben Turner to head the ball away from underneath his own crossbar.

Some of Aldershot’s first-half passing was sublime, with Harding often to the fore. That said, the elegant midfielder was guilty of being caught in possession on a few occasions and nor did the Shots, Grant’s chance aside, fashion clear-cut chances.

“If you don’t shoot you don’t score,” said Waddock afterwards. “There were occasions tonight when we didn’t take a chance quickly enough, when we elected to pass rather than shoot.

“We’re got to start getting into the final third and taking care over what we do and make better decisions, to start wrapping chances up. But that’s the difference between the Championship and where we are.”

Indeed, while there was little cohesion to Coventry in the first half, they certainly still kept Bull busy with a string of on-target efforts. Freddie Eastwood, well-known to Aldershot from his days at Grays Athletic, was the game’s outstanding player, forcing one superb save from Bull and then setting up a chance for Simpson – another ex-non-league player, for Cambridge United. Bull saved magnificently, again.

Aldershot continued to stand tall against their higher-league opponents, with Dean Howell making a marauding run down the left flank and striker Morgan biting back to retrieve possession from Stephen Wright, the former Liverpool fullback.

But Eastwood’s class told on 31 minutes, bursting into the inside-left channel and crossing for Clinton Morrison to slide home his first goal for the club.

“A lot of sides from our level might have folded here after going a goal down but we didn’t at all,” said Waddock. In fact, Aldershot responded to the setback with their best spell of the game.

Kirk Hudson’s stretching shot in the 35th minute fell just wide after an excellent passing move, involving Louie Soares and Morgan.

Two minutes later Hudson was hacked down on the edge of the area by Scott Dann and the scene was set for another Scott Donnelly special. Unlike at Accrington, however, Donnelly failed to clear the wall. It mattered little, given that the shot deflected off Morgan and gave Ireland no chance.

Quite how much Morgan knew about his first Shots goal is unclear but he happily received his team-mates congratulations. “We had a large slice of luck with the goal, yes, but I think we deserved it,” said Waddock.

It could have been even better: Grant dallied over a chance after lovely play by Donnelly and, after Harding was hacked down, Donnelly curled his free-kick over the bar.

The first half ended with Aldershot confidently passing the ball around the back, to a chorus of ‘ole, ole’ from the Aldershot faithful. Coventry’s fans, in contrast, greeted the half-time whistle with a cacophony of boos. “Those boos showed how well we had played,” said Waddock.

“We really took the game to Coventry and in the ten minutes of so before the break we put them under a lot of pressure.”

Unfortunately Coventry simply didn’t allow Aldershot any such control in the second half. Michael Mifsud, given a fresh start by Coleman despite the bad feeling caused by his recent on-off transfer to Bristol City, grew increasingly infuential, giving first Ben Starosta and then, after switching wings, Howell a tough time.

Bull held the fort for a while, before Simpson capitalised on hesitant defending and smashed the ball high past Bull at his near post in the 58th minute.

Seven minutes later it was 3-1, after Eastwood easily beat Chris Blackburn and squared the ball to Simpson, whose cross shot beat Howell’s lunge and Bull’s dive.

With still 25 minutes to go, the Shots looked in grave danger of losing by four or five goals. Bull made a wonderful save from Mifsud and a fine one from Eastwood. The same two players both shot wide late on too; Mifsud’s was an especially bad miss.

But at least Aldershot kept pushing forward in search of goals. Hudson shot over from Donnelly’s pass and twice substitute Danny Hylton worked his way into good positions but his finishing let him down.

“It’s fantastic for the development of young players like Danny and Kirk that they played in a game like tonight’s,” said Waddock. “I thought we could have cleared our lines quicker for their second goal and the third killed us off.

“But we had some outstanding performances tonight, especially Nikki Bull’s. And I think the defence did very well under pressure.

“The longer the game wore on, the more their quality came out. But it was an encouraging game for us.” Aldershot may have lost but they certainly won the ‘noise-off’.

“The fans were fantastic throughout,” said Waddock. “They made an incredible amount of noise and we thank them for making the midweek journey and coming to support us.”

The Shots should have those fans in good voice when League football returns to Aldershot against AFC Bournemouth on Saturday too. And, on the pitch, the players should not be lacking confidence. This may have been a defeat but it was an honourable one for Aldershot.

Waddock, typically, had turned his attention to that Bournemouth game soon after the final whistle at the Ricoh Arena. “We have a few lads coming back from injury and Saturday will be the third game in a week for us,” he said.

“There are some tired legs in the squad and we’ll take a look at things and maybe freshen the team up a little. I am delighted with the performance tonight – if not the result – but the most important thing now is the Bournemouth game.”

Aldershot Town: Bull 8, Starosta 6, Howell 7, Blackburn 7, Charles 7, Harding 7, Soares 6 (Mendes 84), Donnelly 7 (Chalmers 67), Grant 6, Morgan 7 (Hylton 67), Hudson 7. Not used: Jaimez-Ruiz, Day, Newman, Elvins.

Those Aldershot fans who were at the Ricoh Arena may be interested in the following e-mail, sent to the Aldershot News on Thursday morning:

"As a Coventry City supporter at Wednesday's game, I must pay huge respect to the Aldershot fans, whose support of their team throughout the game was outstanding.

"Even when Aldershot were behind, the fans never let up and embarrassed the home fans, just as the Aldershot team had embarrassed Coventry in the first half.

"Aldershot have performed wonders in recent years; with fans like theirs, they deserve to go even further."

John Byrne,
Coventry