A sequence of events that Aldershot Town’s manager said he had never seen before set the Shots on their way to a 2-0 Enterprise National League victory at Boston United on December 20.

It was looking like it might be a bad afternoon for Aldershot when referee James Bancroft awarded a penalty against them after only 14 minutes. Frankie Maguire was fouled just inside the box and Lenell John-Lewis stepped up to the spot for Boston.

John-Lewis shot down the middle but was brilliantly denied by the trailing legs of Shots keeper Coniah Boyce-Clarke. Aldershot launched a lightning counter-attack which ended with Josh Barrett whipping the ball in from the left and Ryan Hill tapping home at the far post.

Aldershot doubled their lead in the 27th minute when James Henry sent over a low corner and Theo Widdrington prodded the ball beyond the dive of Boston keeper Rhys Lovett.

Debutant Charlie Warren was denied a third goal for the Shots in the 34th minute when his back post effort was deemed not to have crossed the line.

A lacklustre second half suited the Shots, with Boston failing to carve out a meaningful chance after the break.

The first goal was something that not even Aldershot’s vastly experienced boss John Coleman had witnessed before.

He said: “To bounce back and score from them missing the penalty, it’s never happened to me in 1,400-odd games.

“I must confess I did say a little prayer to my Mum and Dad hoping that Coniah would save it. It was a great save, and then we had to keep that out, and go up the other end and score. That goal was like worth two. It’s never, ever happened to me, that.”

Coleman acknowledged what a huge turning point it was. He said: “I didn’t think we started the game very well. We were a bit sloppy - our passing, our control.

“There were certain patterns of play that we wanted to try to utilise today that didn’t come off in the first 15 minutes and they put us under a little bit of pressure.”

The win hauled Aldershot up to third from bottom, one point from safety, and Coleman hoped it would be seen as a little festive gift by their 124 supporters at the Jakemans Community Stadium.

He said: “I’m delighted for the fans. The travelling fans were fantastic again and they deserve some pleasure for Christmas.”