Aldershot went through a difficult and sometimes tumultuous season but eventually secured safety with something to spare for a second season in a row. There were genuine hopes of a play-off challenge for the Shots at the start of the campaign, having done very well in the previous season to stay up despite a ten-point deduction. Andy Scott managed to assemble a pretty nifty squad, with Sam Hatton, Kieron Forbes, Dan Fitchett, Glenn Wilson and Phil Smith providing experience and quality at this level. Moreover, Brett Williams stayed on despite being the target of a number of Football League clubs over the summer. It was actually a pretty pleasing start of the season as the only loss of the team in the first six games was a last-minute 1:0 defeat to an Eastleigh side that was flattered to get the points. There was some decent football on show and an excellent comeback win over a strong Grimsby side raised expectations among the fans. However, things only went downhill after that promising first month of the season as Aldershot just struggled for any sort of consistency and began to slide down the table. Comprehensive losses to Braintree and Dover shook the collective belief of the squad and the team actually mustered just two wins in a period of over two months, dropping into the bottom half of the table. Scott was talking a good game and indeed his side threatened to go on a good run at times, while playing the odd bit of good football. They showed their promise in actually taking down their much more illustrious local rivals, Portsmouth, in a FA Cup first-round replay. That proved the high point of the season as the league form continued to be a case of major concern. Losses kept stacking up by the start of the winter and the team actually went on a dreadful sequence of nine losses in ten games either side of the festive period. There was no consistency in the team selection, the goals dried up and the midfield was lacking the authority and control desired. The manager began to feel the pressure and was eventually let go at the end of January, by that point the team very much in a relegation dogfight. Chris Barker was put in as a caretaker player-manager and the experienced defender looked to restore the confidence a bit and galvanise the squad. Barker endured a debut to forget after scoring an own goal to consign the team to a defeat on his first game in charge. But he showed character and steadfastness in the coming weeks to eventually steer Aldershot out of the mire. Dramatic and narrow wins over Welling and Alfreton in six-pointers lifted the pressure off the shoulders of the team and they actually went on a six-game unbeaten run in March. There was more purpose and efficiency about the side while a few solid loan additions made the difference too. An excellent win away at Forest Green during the Easter double-header was another highlight of that surge in form and the Shots certainly finished the season on a high note. In general, however, it was a season of general underachievement and the Shots must be targeting for much higher than just survival next season, when they will have a new manager in charge in Barry Smith.
