Aldershot & Farnham 4, Chichester II 1

ALDERSHOT & Farnham put in a good performance against Chichester to pick up an important three points and move up to sixth place in the Hampshire/Surrey 2 table.

The first half was an evenly-matched affair and a scoreline of 1-1 reflected that.

Ian Metcalfe had twice been denied by good saves from the Chichester goalkeeper from deflections, but he did get the goal which put the home side in front. Jamie Weston sent his short-corner attempt into the path of Rob Jervis who got a deflection that looped up, which Metcalfe was able to get his stick to to volley in.

But Chichester weren’t behind for long. Aldershot & Farnham let them in a little too easily down the left flank with their forward applying a good finish from a narrow angle past debutant goalkeeper Ben Mclean.

Dean Harrison then made skillful progress into the D from high up the pitch on the left-hand side. A threatening position was squandered, though, when he opted for an ambitious flick attempt from a tight angle.

Chichester certainly enjoyed an equal share of the first half, but the A&F defence, particularly Joe Whelan at centre back, were strong in the tackle and worked well to deny Chichester the ball in the D.

Again, Aldershot & Farnham’s discipline and never-say-die attitude served them well while Chichester grew more agitated, and this helped to give A&F confidence heading into the second half.

Good pressing and harrying from the Aldershot & Farnham forwards and midfield flustered the Chichester defence to see them win more possession, and they knew if they could work the ball around a little better more chances would come.

Right on cue, Metcalfe duly mugged a Chichester defender and picked out Max Long making a goalward run into the circle. Long’s attempt was heading across goal but a desperate defender turned the ball into his own goal as Aldershot & Farnham restored their lead early in the second half.

And with 10 minutes remaining, Aldershot & Farnham scored their third and fourth goals in quick succession. For the third, Jonny Thompson, who had a fine controlling game in the centre of midfield, picked out Metcalfe’s run toward the far post. From there, he cut the ball back to Jervis four metres out in front of goal to apply the finish.

The fourth goal was a lovely fluid move with Ewan Hammond picking out Metcalfe on the right flank. A lateral pass was smartly left by Jervis whose dummy took out another player. Inside left Phil Rushmere advanced with the ball and fed it back out to Metcalfe who was now in the right of the circle. Metcalfe committed the goalkeeper and slipped the ball to Aaron Buchanan to slot home from two yards out.

And A&F could even have added a fifth but neither Harrison nor Long could latch on to Jame Weston’s cross at the back post.

Aldershot & Farnham; Mclean, Hammond, Whelan, Weston, E Rushmere, Jervis, Thompson, P Rushmere, Harrison, Metcalfe, Buchanan, Fuentes Moreno, Long, Powell.