Magpies able to
Josh Kelly fires his side in front before
Aldershot Town 1, Maidenhead United 1 Maidenhead United took a small but potentially significant step towards survival as they earned a 1-1 draw with Aldershot Town at the Recreation Ground.
The result actually saw the Magpies fall a place to 20th in the National League table, thanks to Southend United’s 1-0 win over Weymouth, but they edged a point further clear of the dreaded bottom three and now have a four-point gap over Weymouth with a game in hand.
Had their Christmas and New Year games with Wealdstone not both been postponed due to COVID cases in the Stones’ camp, Alan Devonshire’s side may well have been further clear of trouble heading into their next league game at home to Chesterfield on Tuesday, January 18.
This was another well-earned point for the Magpies, who have also drawn away at Southend United and beaten promotion chasers Bromley in recent weeks.
Josh Kelly put the visitors ahead just before the interval with a shot that deflected past the hosts’ keeper. He might have added to that lead with a shot that went inches wide of the upright in the 58th minute, but Toby Edser levelled matters with 25 minutes to play and neither side was able to find a winner in the closing stages.
Perhaps the Magpies have on loan goalkeeper Daniel Gyollai to thank for that after he made crucial late stops to deny the Shots from scoring a second.
United don’t have the best of recent records on their travels to play Aldershot. Their last victory came way back in 1997, when both teams were battling to get out of the Isthmian League, while they haven’t scored a goal at the Recreation Ground since Jamie Cook found the net in the Magpies’ 2-1 FA Cup defeat back in 2004.
They were long overdue a result, and a goal, and thankfully they got both thanks to another committed and resilient display.
The sides traded chances in an even first half, with Glover forcing a terrific save from Gyollai in the 17th minute and Dan Sparkes forcing Mitch Walker into a save with a shot