John Coleman has been appointed as the new manager of relegation-threatened Aldershot Town.

The Shots had been searching for a new boss since Tommy Widdrington resigned earlier this month with the club battling to stay out of the relegation places.

Club chairman Shahid Azeem said: “We are really excited to welcome John to the EBB Stadium. His experience at non-league and above and what he has given to the game is nothing short of remarkable.”

Coleman has managed across the footballing pyramid, most notably at Gillingham, Rochdale and Accrington Stanley, spending 23 years over two spells with the latter.

He enjoyed success with Accrington, helping them rise through the leagues before winning the Conference National title in 2006 during his first spell and then going onto secure the League Two title in 2018 in his second.

Coleman arrives at the EBB Stadium with Aldershot sitting in 20th, above the drop zone on goal difference only, but fans will be hoping his experience will bode well for the National League club.

His first match in charge will be in the FA Cup however, as the Shots travel to face Weston-super-Mare in the first round on Saturday.

Alan Dowson and James Henry took charge of the team on an interim basis while the Aldershot hierarchy looked for Widdrington’s replacement.

Azeem acknowledged their involvement and said: “First of all, all of us here at ATFC want to sincerely thank Alan Dowson and James Henry for stepping up to the plate in this interim period.

“It has not been easy and they have acted with true professionalism throughout. Alan and his team will lead The Shots out this weekend, and the Club are right behind them. We look forward to continuing to work with them.”

Dowson and Henry oversaw Aldershot’s 2-1 defeat to Scunthorpe at the weekend, but Coleman has now taken over as manager.

Defender Sam Middleton bagged two goals as Colden Common moved into the top four with a 4-1 win over Clanfield

Ahead of the visit of the Clan, Steve Kings made seven changes from the side that took on Ash United.

The Stallions controlled the early stages of the opening stage.

Brad Lethbridge directed his header wide, before Owen Sims and Cam Stone combined on the right with new signing Joao Ferreira being found on the right, which saw his effort curled wide.

Despite their early dominance, former stallion Matty Rylance swung at a loose ball but his volley flew wide as Charlie Brook’s shot from a tight angle was denied by James Egeland-Jensen.

Colden Common came close to breaking the deadlock when Lethbridge made a darting run from right, which lead to Lethbridge’s shot deflected off Rylance’s attempted block and saw a quick save from Logan O’Donnell to keep the game level.

The chances kept coming for the Stallions. Cal Archer had two chances in quick succession to open the scoring, the former Fleetlands midfielder dragged his effort off target then two minutes he fired wide from close range. Ferreira’s strike was richoeted to the feet of Denny Adams but his ambitious effort from distance curled wide.

Clanfield could of took the lead when Kevin Bosaka won the ball off the pitch from Archer and made a powerful run and picked out Brook, but his low drive was blocked by Egeland-Jensen.

But seven minutes before half-time, the Stallions finally broke the deadlock. Lethbridge capitalised on Bailey Harkin’s lacklustre clearance and floated a cross to an unmarked Middleton, who fired his half-volley past keeper O’Donnell.

HT: Colden Common 1-0 Clanfield

It did not take long for Colden Common to find a second.

After a lovely run from Sims picked out Stone, who drove towards goal and found the back of the net.

Clanfield nearly responded immediately when Joe Briggs was threaded through outside the box but Egeland-Jensen palmed away his strike. But Five minutes later, the Clan were back into the game. A quick-counter attack was finished off by the former Winchester City winger Briggs – for his seventh goal of the season.

Despite some slight pressure from the Clan, Troy Wingfield’s foul on substitute Josh Bowerman saw the Stallions awarded a penalty with just over 20 minutes left to play. Lethbridge fired from the spot to restore Colden Common’s two goal lead, with the former Portsmouth midfielder bagging his third goal in the last five league games.

The chances kept coming as Lethbridge had shot from range and Jimmer Henderson’s attempt was blocked on the line.

In the last ten minutes of the game, Colden Common added a fourth and saw unlikely brace for Middleton. Will Erdinc flicked a loose ball to Lethbridge, who then found Middleton unmarked at the back post as he slotted through the legs of O’Donnell.

Colden Common believed Clanfield should of been reduced to ten men following Callum Stockley’s foul on defender Nathan Primus, who was operating as a striker, but the appeals were waved away and the Clan defender was given a yellow. An free-kick was awarded outside the box, Middleton stepped-up to seal the hat-trick but his strike was struck over the bar.

FT: Colden Common 4-1 Clanfield

Weston Park Blades players, Jayda Pechova and Sophie Kelly won bronze in Gibraltar after they represented England in the recent Netball World Youth Cup.

After narrowly missing out on the chance for a gold medal, being defeated by New Zealand in the semi final 51-49, they had the opportunity to win a medal in the bronze medal match against South Africa, which they won 55-35.

Weston Park Blades, based in Winchester currently sit top of their league after winning their first five games to start their league campaign, despite the absence of Sophie and Jayda.

Sophie, goal-attack and Jayda, goal-defence, both currently for teams in the Netball Super League, with Sophie playing for Surrey Storm and Jayda for Nottingham Forest.

When speaking to their Blades Coach Jan Crabtree, she spoke of when she first met both of them, saying: “Jayda was very raw, she was a gymnast but grew too much, a friend brought her along when she was 13.

“Soph was a determined person, she was a defender but turned into a shooter, she joined the club when she was 11 or 12.”

She went on to say the lengths the girls would go to to get their practice in.

“Sophie would always take her goal posts down to Devon on holiday to practice.

“They were rewarded with success after success and that kept them going.”

Both will hope to contribute to both their Super League teams and Weston Park Blades over the coming season and will certainly hope to go one better than Gibraltar with the England Roses in the future.