ALDERSHOT is a town with a proud military tradition, with many roads given Army themed names.

It’s no surprise then that after Accrington Stanley’s 1-1 draw with Aldershot Town, referee Phil Crossley was in the firing line as he got both barrels from Reds boss John Coleman.

A string of strange decisions, including denying Stanley a penalty in the second half, meant that Coleman’s side had to settle for just a point from their trip to Hampshire.

Things started well, with Stanley passing the ball confidently. Jimmy Ryan hammered an early sighter from the edge of the box that Luke Guttridge blocked and it proved to be the first of several skirmishes between the two.

The Reds went in front on 17 minutes through Rory Boulding. Sean Hessey brought the ball confidently out of defence to pick out Sean McConville on the right.

He looked up and saw Boulding, making only his sixth start of the season due to Terry Gornell’s absence through injury, and picked out the striker’s run well.

The former Bradford man kept his cool to stroke a shot beyond goalkeeper Jamie Young into the left corner of the net for his second goal of the campaign.

Any anticipated counter offensive from the Shots never materialised.

In fact it was the visitors who were the bigger threat, and they were the width of a post away from doubling their lead in the 28th minute.

Ryan showed great footwork to exchange passes with Boulding before driving in a shot from the edge of the area.

Young was beaten, but the ball cannoned back off the right upright.

By now Dean Holdsworth’s team were getting frustrated, and things boiled over just past the half hour mark when Guttridge appeared to catch Ryan with a poor tackle.

Ryan reacted, prompting scuffles between players from both sides.

After the restart Aldershot had clearly had a dressing down and were soon back in the game.

The travelling contingent were convinced that it was not a free kick and that Crossley had been swayed by the home crowd, but the referee played no part in the defending that allowed Darren Jones to rise unchallenged to head in Anthony Straker’s delivery.

Moments later Stanley could have been back in front when Ian Craney worked his way into the area and shot left footed, only for Young to parry.

The goalkeeper also had to be on his toes a little later when McConville volleyed from the edge of the box.

If the Reds felt aggrieved by the way decisions were going, that feeling turned to fury in the 69th minute when they were denied a penalty.

Ryan produced a pass for Boulding to race on to and, as the striker battled with Jones, the centre back seemed to take a wayward touch and allow his adversary in. But as Boulding looked to make the break he was bumped by the defender inside the box and the referee didn’t so much turn down the appeals but more ignored them completely.

By now things were getting very niggly, with Stanley’s Hessey, Joe Jacobson and Andy Procter all shown yellow cards despite Guttridge having not even been spoken to for a number of indiscretions.

The last 10 minutes largely belonged to the home team, although Phil Edwards had a very late chance at the other end, heading high and wide.

It had been a battle at the EBB Stadium and neither side could claim victory, but both could still claim to be in the hunt in the wider war for a play-off place.

Stanley: Alex Cisak, Dean Winnard, Phil Edwards, Sean Hessey, Joe Jacobson, Luke Joyce, Andy Procter, Jimmy Ryan, Ian Craney, Sean McConville, Rory Boulding (Craig Lindfield 83). Subs not used: Ian Dunbavin, Kevin Long, Peter Murphy, Charlie Barnett, Ray Putterill, Andy Parkinson.

Aldershot: Jamie Young, Ben Herd, Darren Jones, Anthony Charles, Anthony Straker, John Halls (Ben Harding 83), Luke Guttridge, Alex Rodman (Jermaine McGlashan 62), Peter Vincenti, Damian Spencer (Wade Small 82), Danny Hylton. Subs not used: Mikhael Jaimez-Ruiz, Aaron Morris, Clayton Fortune, Tim Sills.

Referee: Phil Crossley.

Attendance: 2,555.