When I arrived I found that Milton's coach was parked in the usual spaces so I had to drive further down towards the ground. The weather was overcast and although there wasn't much wind it looked like it could rain at any time. While the two teams warmed up on the grass behind the pitch I had a read through the excellent Amesbury programme. While the programme said that there would be no extra time the tannoy announcer corrected this statement and confirmed it would extra time and then a replay if scores were level.
As the game kicked off it started to rain. Luckily the wind was blowing the precipitation away from my face so my glasses didn't get covered in water. The rain was fairly light so I remained in my spot on the near touchline but I was ready to wander round to the main stand if it became heavier.
Amesbury took the lead after 7 minutes from a long kick out by the keeper. The ball was headed on and an Amesbury striker picked it up and placed a shot to the right side of the goal past the keeper.
It took another 7 minutes for Milton to equalise. The ball was played down the right wing and then into the penalty area. There were three Amesbury players hustling one Milton player to try and win the ball off him but none of them were successful and the Milton player was able to place his shot under the keeper.
Milton had a couple of quick forwards and they tried to keep on the shoulder of the Amesbury backline before chasing long balls from the back into the space ahead of the keeper. When they won free kicks this strategy changed. Instead of playing a long ball up to the front they played short balls sideways to a team mate and started to build from the back again.
The play was end to end and Milton were unfortunate in the 16th minute that the referee didn't allow an advantage after a foul on the halfway line as their player was racing in on goal as the referee blew the whistle to bring play back.
Amesbury were also unlucky in the 20th minute. The ball was played across to the right and just as an unmarked Amesbury player was about to hit a shot past the keeper a defender slid in with a perfectly timed challenge to block the shot. In the 28th minute Amesbury almost took the lead again when most of the players missed a corner, allowing a shot towards the far post that the Milton keeper managed to get down to and push around the post.
There were a couple of late challenges on Milton players and the referee had no choice in the 35th minute to book an Amesbury central defender for a scything tackle that brought a Milton player to the ground.
The same two players were involved in a similar challenge in the 43rd minute with the same outcome. After showing the second yellow card, the referee pulled out the red card but the Amesbury player was already walking off the pitch. The ball was played into the area from the resulting freekick and cleared out.
The Amesbury players moved up the pitch quickly and as a Milton defender pumped a through ball back up the field it looked like there were 3 Milton players in an offside position. One of the players had moved forward from an onside position and took the ball into the penalty area. While the Amesbury players appealed for offside play continued as the run had been well timed and the assistant kept his flag down. The keeper came off his line and although he managed to stop the first shot, the ball bounced back off the Milton player and allowed him to tap in the second goal for the visitors.
After the excitement of the last couple of minutes of the first half, the second half was an anti-climax. Milton didn't press home their man advantage and it was Amesbury who kept possession and dominated periods of play. In the 60th minute a long ball down the left found an Amesbury player. He cut inside and took the ball round a couple of Milton players before hitting a good shot that the keeper saved. Amesbury forced a number of corners but didn't manage to get any headers on target.
Amesbury made a couple of attacking substitutions although one wasn't popular with a couple of players on the side furthest from the dugouts as they felt the player who went off was playing well. The best chance of the half fell to Amesbury in the 83rd minute. They pressed down the left side and their lively striker took possession of the ball towards the penalty area. He managed to work some space and took aim. The shot beat the defenders, beat the keeper but cracked into the post and the ball came straight back into play.
Milton had a couple of half chances in the final minutes but didn't exploit the space at the back that Amesbury left as they pushed forward for an equaliser. The sending off changed the course of the game and as the referee blew the final whistle I wondered whether Amesbury would have got through if they had kept all the players on the pitch.
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