The Crusaders unbeaten in 2025 run ended abruptly at Sholing with the home side taking advantage of some Hungerford errors and some officiating decisions.

In the first couple of minutes a Kyle Tooze shot was blocked by a Sholing defender it looked to have struck a hand but probably would have been a harsh decision. Matt Berry-Hargreaves then whipped in a lovely cross that somehow evaded everyone.

With Hungerford pressing for the opener the game turned in the 20th minute when a needless free kick was given away. Sholing floated the ball towards the far side of the box and a handball was spotted by the referee to award Sholing a penalty. Sholing striker Michael Folivi despatched the spot kick via a stuttering run up to give the home side the lead.

Hungerford went straight back on the attack and five minutes later Kyle Tooze was unfortunate when his spin and shot hit the underside of the crossbar and somehow defying the laws of physics bounced clear. George Smith then headed a Louis McGrory corner straight at the keeper from six yards out. It had the feeling of one of those days for the away side especially as Luke Softley, McGrory and Curtis Angell had all found themselves on yellow cards for the most innocuous of challenges. Angell’s yellow card would have consequences later in the game.

Softley had to go of injured ten minutes before the break causing a reshuffle at the back. Tooze again went close but was prevented a goal by a brilliant block by Sholing defender Mason. So much so the defender could not continue.

Deep into first half injury time a slip by Jose Marquez was seized upon by Hesketh who put Romeo Akinola one on one with Redman Evans. Akinola slotted the ball past the advancing Hungerford keeper to double the home sides lead and to give them a 2-0 lead at the break. Sholing punishing Hungerford errors twice whilst the Crusaders had not taken advantage of their chances.

Danny Robinson mixed things up by changing the strike force at half time but the effect these changes may have hoped for was ended almost immediately when a speculative shot by Sholing’s Akinola found the net. Hungerford keeper Evans will feel he should have done better but this finished any chances Hungerford had of getting something from the game.

Ten minutes in a Ramarni Medford-Smith tackle where he won the ball was called a foul. This led to a confrontation and some pushing and shoving between both sets of players. Medford-Smith was shown a red card in the melee and was deemed the main villain of the piece. Whether or not he was that villain was difficult to see in the chaos.

To impact Hungerford’s punishment on 64 minutes Curtis Angell was shown a second yellow card for a challenge where he was the player who had looked like he had been fouled. The second red card in match without any serious challenges and Hungerford’s afternoon was in disarray.

It was now a matter of how many goals Sholing could chalk up against nine players. Max Busamente got one on 75 minutes with a near post finish. Hungerford however, defended resolutely, lead by Berry-Hargreaves at the back determined to not make the afternoon any worse than it already was.

Hungerford will hope this is nothing but a blip on their impressive 2025 landscape but will be without a key player for the Gloucester game thanks to decisions in this game too

Team : Evans, Tyler, Angell, Softley (Hooper), Medford-Smith, Berry-Hargreaves, Smith, McGrory (Lawrence), Shepherd (Ramos), Tooze (Ibe), Marquez (Squires)
Star Man : Berry-Hargreaves