CHILLY Friday nights in November are not exactly ideal for a jaunt to the seaside, but no one from Aldershot was complaining come the final whistle.

Down on the South Coast Aldershot had gone back up to the top of Blue Square Premier with a classy 2-0 victory over Weymouth that was as comfortable as it was impressive. Aldershot clearly do like to be beside the seaside.

With the gauntlet thrown down in Dorset, Gary Waddock and his Shots were able to sit back on Saturday afternoon and wait to see whether Torquay United could respond in neighbouring Devon.

Torquay failed, losing at Plainmoor for the first time in the league this season, 2-1 to Cambridge United, leaving the Shots a point clear at the top, with nigh on two fifths of the season gone.

After rather uninspiring performances in beating Halifax in the league and Crawley, via a replay, in the FA Cup, plus defeats at Stevenage and Burton, the Shots rediscovered their scintillating early-season away form at the Wessex Stadium.

Weymouth struggled to create all game and had just one good chance across the 90 minutes, when Conal Platt shot wide early in the second half, when the Shots led 1-0.

Aldershot could easily have had more to show than Rob Elvins and Jonny Dixon’s goals, which came midway through each half. Weymouth ‘keeper John Stewart made two excellent first half saves and Ben Harding and Louie Soares missed presentable chances for Aldershot after the break.

Dixon’s goal, in the 70th minute, completely knocked the stuffing out of Weymouth. And what a goal it was. Harding calmly controlled a loose ball in the area after a Weymouth corner and arrowed a superb left foot pass, almost as long and straight as nearby Chesil Beach, to Dixon on the far right touchline.

Dixon cut inside, comfortably beating Joel Kitamirike, who six years ago was playing for Chelsea in the Uefa Cup, for pace and strength, before slipping the ball under Stewart, for his third goal in four games.

Weymouth manager Jason Tindall argued afterwards that Aldershot had scored both their goals while Weymouth were enjoying their best periods of the match.

He wasn’t wrong but so much the better for the Shots: Dixon’s was the classic goal away from home on the counterattack.

In the first half, Aldershot had appeared the home side, dominating possession and territory and creating a series of good openings.

Joel Grant was outstanding. Waddock had drafted him in after moving Harding into central midfield, to replace the suspended Lewis Chalmers. Harding and Davies formed an excellent axis in the middle, keeping quiet Weymouth’s former Arsenal star, Paolo Vernazza, affording him none of the time on the ball he craves.

But it was Grant who was the star, giving the Terras’ right back Scott Doe a torrid evening. It was a lame Doe against a majestic stag and Grant had his man stuck in a rut all half.

Twice Grant skinned Doe in the first five minutes, sending in tantalising crosses. Rhys Day went close with a header from a corner and when Grant beat Doe again, Stewart made a fine save at the feet of Dixon from Grant’s clever reverse pass.

From the resulting corner, Stewart made a wonderful save to his left to keep out Harding’s thunderous left foot volley.

Weymouth eventually responded and Vernazza and Gavin McCallum interchanged well with former Shot Nick Crittenden.

But the Terras failed to trouble Bull and on the half hour the Shots scored the goal their early dominance merited.

Appropriately, it came from a foul by Doe on Grant near the corner flag. Davies knocked in the free-kick, Harding’s header was cleared off the line and Elvins, on the penalty spot, lashed the ball home through the crowd.

It was a sweet moment for Elvins, who has struggled to win over the Aldershot faithful since arriving from West Bromwich Albion in the summer, and was possibly only starting because Danny Hylton was injured and John Grant fit just to make the bench.

Elvins, booked late on for time-wasting, showed neat touches throughout and his late substitution by Waddock prompted warm applause from the Shots fans, which Elvins heartily reciprocated.

Tindall introduced Stuart Beavon after the break, back from injury and a virus, and for a short while Weymouth were the better side, especially when they fed James Coutts out wide on the left.

Granted, there wasn’t too much to scare the Shots down on the Jurassic Coast but Beavon did force the closest Aldershot have to a dinosaur — 37-year-old Ricky Newman — into a late tackle for which Newman was booked.

Coutts was getting the better of Rob Gier and, after a superb run, he squared the ball to the unmarked Platt on the penalty spot. It was an outstanding opportunity but Bull made himself big and the target small and Platt shot just wide.

Beavon and Crittenden later forced tidy saves from Bull, but Aldershot were the more threatening team all evening and soon later Harding’s exquisite pass and Dixon’s run and finish killed off Weymouth.

The last 20 minutes were a stroll for the Shots, with Soares and Grant swapping wings and linking neatly with Harding and Davies. John Grant came off the bench to add another 15 minutes down the road to match fitness.

At the back, this was Aldershot’s third clean sheet in four and the centre-back pairing of Newmand and Day was again solid. A no-nonsense, thundering late clearance from Day, which probably would have ended up as far away as Portland Bill had the stand not intervened, was indicative of the whole side's commanding performance.

Aldershot: Bull, Gier, Day, Davies, Straker, Soares, Newman, Joel Grant, Harding, Dixon (John Grant 79), Elvins (Hudson 87).

For a full match report and Gary Waddock's reaction, see Tuesday's Aldershot Mail.