Browne scores twice as Wealdstone come from behind to beat Aldershot

Wealdstone thrillingly came from behind to defeat Aldershot Town 2-1 thanks to two goals in ten remarkable minutes from Rhys Browne.

The Shots took the lead early on when a fantastic strike from Frank Vincent flew into the top corner. Wealdstone reacted well to going behind, keeping their heads in the game and dominating the hosts. They found their breakthrough just after the hour mark when Browne tapped in for his first goal of the day.

The Stones striker the completed the stunning comeback on 76 minutes when he finished well into the bottom corner following a cut-back from Jack Cook. It was his sixth and seventh goals of the season and clinched the Stones third win on the road this season.

The Shots started strong, not allowing Stuart Maynard’s side to gather any rhythm and it paid off just seven minutes. A ball into the box was taken down efficiently by the imposing Aldershot striker Inih Effiong and laid off to Vincent on the edge of the box, who rifled a shot into the top left corner.

Despite going behind, the Stones reacted well and almost found themselves level on 17 minutes when a well-hit volley from the edge of the box from Jaydn Mundle-Smith forced an acrobatic effort out of Shots keeper Luca Ashby-Hammond.

Maynard’s side continued to press for the equaliser and were inches away from it when Tarryn Allarakhia picked up the ball in his own half, drove at the Aldershot back-line and squared the ball into the path of Olufela Olomola. His sliding effort was a whisker away from hitting the back of the net.

Wealdstone carried on in the second half how they ended the first: continuing to dominate possession without finding the killer edge in front of goal.

A flurry of chances fell the Stones way inside the first 15 minutes of the second period that left Stones fans wondering how they hadn’t equalised. Some fantastic footwork from Stones striker Olomola saw him beat his man and place the ball into the path of David Sesay whose unorthodox effort was cleared off the line by an Aldershot defender.

The next big chance once again fell to Sesay. On 57 minutes, he hit a curling effort towards the top corner which forced a fantastic save out of Ashby-Hammond.

After an immense amount of pressure, the Stones finally found their equaliser on 66 minutes when Nathan Ferguson’s long shot was parried into the path of Browne, who tapped home from close range to level the score.

Ten minutes later, Stones goalkeeper Sam Howes, who had been given relatively little to do up until that point, was forced into a fantastic diving save down to his left when Effiong took the ball down and smashed it towards the bottom left corner.

On 77 minutes, came the decisive and winning moment. A a cut-back from Stones captain Cook was placed into the bottom corner once again by Browne, to spark wild scenes in the away end.

Maynard will be delighted with his team’s performance, which ended a run of four without a win and particularly the manner in which they came from behind. The Stones now head to Solihull Moors on Tuesday night.

Wealdstone: Howes, Cook, Charles, Elerewe, Allarakhia, Ferguson, Olomola (Kinsella 90), Browne, Sesay, Mundle-Smith (Hutchinson h-t), Habergham. Subs not used: Barrett, Dyer and Baptiste not used.

Referee:Aji Ajibola

Attendance:1,702

* Pictures by Jon Taffel