Aldershot 1 - 0 Purfleet

UNLUCKY FLEET GO DOWN AT ALDERSHOT

As you would expect in such an important game both sides came out to a crescendo of noise made by this 2000 plus crowd.

Aldershot seemed to settle slightly quicker than Fleet and were ahead after 5 minutes. The goal came as a result that the referee adjudged that Alex O'Reilly had handled the ball outside of his area and awarded a free kick, after cautioning the unlucky keeper. The Referee's assistant had not seen this and some Fleet fans were a little upset with the decision. The resultant free-kick was struck at the wall only for a desperate scramble to ensue where Langston sent the rebound into the far corner of the Fleet net from close range.

Fleet seemed to grow stronger and began to find openings for Jon Keeling and Terry Bowes to explore. Bowes had a good penalty call waved away by the referee but moments later he was felled again and this time the spot-kick was awarded. Up stepped Paul Linger who struck the ball well beyond Bull in the Shots goal only to see the ball cannon off the foot of the post.

After their opening 10 minute spell Aldershot never really stated their claim as title contenders which is much to the credit of Purfleet who really did enjoy the better periods of play throughout the rest of the game.

Aldershot were reduced to ten men when Dominic Sterling was dismissed for a second bookable offence with half an hour of the game still remaining. Purfleet continued to work hard but just couldn't find the telling ball that would get them a deserved equaliser.

Notable performances from Terry Bowes and Gary Howard must have pleased Manager of the Month Colin McBride.

There is a lot of football to be played and both of these sides will feature heavily in the run - in to the Conference.