Shenley travelled to Heelands on a warm Sunday afternoon looking to get back to winning ways.

Meanwhile, this was Heelands' first game in two weeks. They were looking for their second win of the season after losing 5 of their opening 6 matches.

Team News
The Phantoms were without nine players, namely defenders Ollie Tanner, Mitchell Brook, Zakir Kassam and Matthew Brown, midfielder Tyler Johnston, and forwards Ben Lynch, Freddie Rogers, Myron Auko and Mohammed Edris.

Manager Ian Orr made three changes to the starting XI, with Adam Gillespie, Jack Medley and Tom Beevor all coming back into the side after missing out in midweek.

Kyle Armstrong was the only substitute.

First Half
Shenley started the game brightly, dominating possession but unable to get any shots off. Heelands set up to sit back and counter-attack via through balls to their striker.

A long free-kick was played to Heelands' striker in the box. He turned and unleashed a powerful volley, but it was straight down the throat of keeper Aly Khimani.

A long-range effort from Finley Bodimeade was comfortably saved by the Rangers' keeper.

One of the Heelands' players got their head to a corner kick at the back post, but the ball went narrowly wide of the post.

At half-time, neither team had managed to break the deadlock.

Second Half
There were no half-time substitutions.

Five minutes in, Morgan Pugh played a long free-kick from the left wing into the box. Tom Beevor attempted to flick the ball on, but it deflected off two Heelands' defenders. Joel Smith reacted quickest to volley the ball into the back of the net to give Shenley a well-deserved lead.

A Heelands' free-kick from the edge of the box hit the bar before the rebound was blocked by Rohan Sawjani.

Connor Dempsey was shown a yellow card for taking out a player from behind on the halfway line.

Four minutes later, a free-kick by Morgan Pugh from the edge of the box came off the inside of the far post, rebounded off the goalkeeper and was headed in by Joel Smith for his second goal of the game.

Kyle Armstrong came on for Adam Gillespie at left-back.

Two minutes later, Connor Dempsey won a free kick 30 yards from the goal. Morgan Pugh curled an effort over the wall and into the top corner to extend Shenley's lead.

Morgan Pugh almost got on the scoresheet again, but his powerful strike was tipped over the bar by the Heelands' keeper.

Six minutes later, Jack Medley's header from a corner was cleared off the line. Joel Smith was again quickest to react to put the ball into the back of the net to complete his hat trick.

Adam Gillespie came back on for Connor Dempsey with 6 minutes to go.

Kian Robinson almost got on the scoresheet, but his close-range shot was well saved by the Heelands' keeper.

At full time, Shenley were 4-0 winners over Heelands Rangers.

Analysis
Shenley needed to bounce back after picking up 1 point from the last 2 matches, and they did so with their dominant second-half performance.

All four of the goals came from set-pieces, which the Phantoms have relied heavily on recently: 11 of their 16 goals since the restart have come from free-kicks or corners.

It was also a welcome clean sheet for Shenley - their first in 8 matches - despite the absence of centre-backs Ollie Tanner and Mitchell Brook.

Man of the Match
Congratulations to Joel Smith who won Man of the Match today for his hat-trick, doubling his goal tally for the season.

"Everyone put in a shift" - Reaction
Goalscorer Joel Smith: "Much better performance in the second half compared to the first and it was good to get back scoring. Hopefully we take this into next week against Scots!"

Defender Rohan Sawjani: "We struggled to get going in the first half but after a few changes at half time, we were able to turn it around. Everyone put in a shift in the second half and we deserved the three points in the end. Overall a good performance. Up the Phantoms!"

Statistics

• Morgan Pugh is now the joint second-highest goalscorer with 7 goals this season - level with Connor Dempsey
• Connor Demspey now has 20 assists in his last 20 games, the most of any player this season
• Two of Shenley's three clean sheets in the league this season have come against Heelands

What's next?
Shenley will be back in action next weekend when they take on Scot FC away from home.

Meanwhile, Heelands Rangers will travel to face Deanshanger Athletic on Wednesday.

On behalf of the team, I’d like to express my thanks to Richard Medley for being the linesman, Mohammed Khimani for taking the videos and all the fans who travelled to support the Phantoms. Your support is very much appreciated.