A late departure from Salisbury, met up with Andy in the Boathouse where he was waiting upon a sausage and bacon sarnie. Once it had been polished off (c 1.45) we drove to Eastleigh via Rob's and joined the multitude parking in the rugby ground. I was concerned as to whether there would be any programmes left but managed to get one after a brisk walk to the ground.
Salisbury took the lead on 10 minutes from a Paul Sales header that looked as if it went into the bottom corner in slow motion - the reason for this was apparent later - the ball had hit the post, rebounded to a defenders leg and had gone in off the defender. Despite this debating point, the goal was attributed to Sales.
The game progressed as many derby games do - lots of effort, some good chances squandered for both teams and some heartstopping moments when it looks like the opposition have scored. Salisbury were lucky just before half time when an Eastleigh player miscued a shot and put it over the bar when it looked easier to score. Jon Bass had an excellent shot saved and with 5 minutes to go Robbie Matthews rose above the keeper and defence to put a header past them but unfortunately on to the bar. The rebound came out to Matt Tubbs but with an empty goal in front of him he scuffed his shot wide from the edge of the 6 yard box. The next 5 minutes seemed to go on for ever before the referee finally blew the whistle.
As the whistle blew, the play was just in front of us and my applause for the Whites performance seemed to annoy Eastleigh's Tarkan Mustafa who picked the ball up and then dummied to throw it at me like a basketball player. Shame to see someone I used to enjoy watching at Kingstonian act like a spoilt brat, especially as the applause was for the Salisbury players he was stood next to and I hadn't said a word to him at that point.
We wandered past the groups of 'youth fans' who seemed to be spoiling for a fight and got back to the car just before it started to pelt it down with rain. A good day out and a record crowd at the Sparshatts of 1426 to see the third Salisbury 1.0 win over Eastleigh this season.
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