Coca-Cola League Two

Aldershot Town 3 Bury 3

THERE have been many remarkable matches at Aldershot in the last 15 months; but none as extraordinary as this one.

With three-quarters of the game gone, Fortress Rec was on its knees.

Just as when Rome was sacked, the enemy had come in from the north and had made a mockery of what had previously been the well nigh impregnable. The Rec had been ransacked.

Not that there was anything barbarian about Bury. Alan Knill’s league leaders scored a beautifully constructed first goal, a wickedly delivered second and a clever third. Aldershot had been out-fought and out-thought.

The contest looked over and the proud home record of Gary Waddock’s empire — The Shots had lost just once at home in the league since August 2007 and are unbeaten there in League Two — was all set to suffer a rare looting.

Remarkably, however, the record stands, after a storming comeback clinched a 3-3 draw.

And it was one of Waddock’s unsung troops who emerged from the rank and file of the bench to transform the game.

That man was Rob Elvins. The striker is yet to start a league game this season and, indeed, had scarcely featured as a substitute.

But within four minutes Elvins had headed a goal back and soon after he won a penalty, converted by Scott Davies.

While Elvins had no direct involvement in Danny Hylton’s equaliser, it was thanks to his calm hold-up play that The Shots were finally able to construct attacking moves to unsettle Bury’s rearguard. Three Aldershot goals in just ten minutes told the astonishing story.

It is little wonder that Waddock described the result as “like a win”. Five yards away, Knill sat talking of “the feeling of a defeat”.

Morgan had worked hard but he had been head down and blighted by a heavy first touch. Elvins was head up and made space with surprisingly deft control.

Hylton took the man-of-the-match champagne but it really should have gone to ‘El Vino’; this only became a vintage game once Elvins had swung the momentum Aldershot’s way.

Before his arrival, The Shots had been completely out-manoeuvred in midfield and, just as in the defeat to Notts County last week, their season-long vulnerability to crosses and set-pieces had continued.

At least the rearguard stood tall for the last ten minutes of this pulsating match, even if Mikhael Jaimez-Ruiz, in for the ill Nikki Bull, had to make a point-blank save from Elliott Bennett, with the score at 3-3.

Waddock had turned to new members of his squad in the wake of the defeat at County. Teenager Hylton was handed a first Football League start, with John Grant dropped to the bench.
 
The Shots’ defensive crisis had worsened before the game, with not just Bull unavailable, but Junior Osborne and Anthony Straker injured. Waddock could only name four players on the bench, with no substitute goalkeeper.

Louie Soares moved back to right-back, while Lewis Chalmers came into the middle, pushing Ben Harding out wide on the left.

For more than an hour, it looked like a good game for Grant and co to miss. Aldershot were poor. Neither Harding, who is seldom effective on the left, nor Chalmers could get in the game.

At the back, Anthony Charles and Chris Blackburn gave the ball away far too often, perhaps unnerved by Jaimez-Ruiz’s weak kicking.

Up front, Hylton and Morgan worked hard but the ball kept coming back to Bury’s tidy midfield.

Bury had almost scored after 17 seconds, when Michael Jones shot just wide from 15 yards. That said, Charles should have scored soon afterwards, with a header from Harding’s inswinging delivery.

But, after Andy Morrell was desperately unlucky to hit the underside of the bar from 40 yards, following a poor kick by Jaimez-Ruiz, The Shakers recognised that Aldershot were vulnerable — and pounced.

First Andy Bishop converted a wonderful cross-field move, involving Jones and Bennett, on 24 minutes. Six minutes later, Brian Barry-Murphy’s vicious inswinging corner drew The Shots to the near post and Paul Scott didn’t even have to jump to head home at the far one.

While Aldershot had their moments, with Morgan heading straight at Wayne Brown, Morrell really should have made it 3-0 before the break, after Charles and Dean Howell got in each other’s way. Jaimez-Ruiz, who had endured a jittery league debut, made a confidence-boosting save.

Not that Bury had to wait too long for a third. While Aldershot had shown no imagination from set pieces, content in hoping that Scott Davies could cannon shots through the Bury ramparts, The Shakers went 3-0 ahead thanks to a cute free-kick. Barry-Murphy’s magical left foot looked the likely shooter but, instead, Bennett moved the ball sideways to Bishop, who spun and shot under the body of Jaimez-Ruiz.
 
But while Aldershot’s youth and inexperience can make them vulnerable, it also makes them dangerously fearless opponents. Not many teams would seize the moment after Elvins pulled a goal back, as The Shots did.

It was fillip enough for Elvins that Waddock chose to introduce him ahead of Grant and Junior Mendes.

And, with Harding restored to the middle, and a front three of Elvins, Hylton and Kirk Hudson, The Shots were suddenly moving forward with purpose and, crucially, maintaining possession.

First Elvins coolly converted Hudson’s cross with a confident header and then forced a corner, from which Scott handled, under pressure from Elvins. Davies thumped home the penalty, unruffled by Brown’s delaying tactics.

“I was really chuffed to get my goal,” said Elvins. “Not that I could really miss. After that Bury looked shaky and things went like a dream. It was just incredible to get a point.”

Indeed, the shaky Shakers were rattled and they rolled over again two minutes later. Waddock has demanded better defending from corners and, boy, did his team deliver.

Blackburn headed Barry-Murphy’s corner away meatily and Hudson and Chalmers quickly transferred the ball to Hylton, who slalomed his way through the Bury defence and buried a cross-shot.

“I was a bit nervous as it was my first League start,” said Hylton afterwards. “But I’m buzzing after scoring. I got a few in the Conference but that’s my first in front of the East Bank.”

That terrace — indeed, the whole of Fortress Rec — shook to the rafters. Knill shook his head in disbelief. No wonder he was so downhearted after the match; as thrilling as Aldershot’s comeback had been, Bury had thrown the match away.

After such an extraordinary ten minutes, The Shots could not complete the full comeback and, indeed, while they were bright on the counterattack, Bennett should have stolen the points for Bury.

But he didn’t — and Waddock was quick to praise his side’s determined finish. At last, they had not conceded a late goal.

But the manager reserved his highest praise for Elvins. “Rob deserves an awful lot of credit,” said Waddock. “He’s worked hard and waited patiently."

The final words belong to Elvins. “I’d like to think I did well again today. I’m happier this season and I feel I learnt a lot last season. The goal now is to work hard in training this week and see if I can get a start at Macclesfield next week.”

Aldershot Town: Jaimez-Ruiz, Soares, Howell, Charles, Blackburn, Chalmers, Hudson, Davies, Morgan (Elvins 65), Hylton, Harding. Subs not used: Grant, Mendes, Donnelly.

For more, including further comments from Gary Waddock and Rob Elvins, see Tuesday's Aldershot Mail.