A choice of two games locally with both Salisbury and Downton at home. After the heavy rain overnight and the heavy wind and rain forecast for Saturday afternoon I decided to play it safe and head to the Ray Mac. This turned out to be a wise decision as Downton's game against Horndean had to be abandoned after 65 minutes due to a waterlogged pitch.
As I left home it started to rain and by the time I got through the gridlock on Castle Street roundabout and made it to the ground the rain was torrential. I started watching the teams warming up and reading my programme in the usual spot to the left of the goal until the stewards decided that they would allocate that corner of the covered terrace to the visitors. Luckily there was some space directly behind the goal so I could stand at the back next to the barrier and stay dry!
Matt Tubbs had an early chance with a header that Abbey parried away but for the next half an hour or so the Rushden team were on top and putting Salisbury under pressure although there were few attempts on goal. Bittner pushed a shot wide that looked to be going wide of his left post and came out of his goal to make a couple of sweeper clearances. Rushden had one good chance spoilt by the weather as their players slipped up at the wrong time allowing Bittner to take the ball. The biggest cheer of the half came when one of the assistants tried to put his flag in the air only to see it fly out of his hand and hurtle down the touchline.
There was one ugly moment when Akurang launched himself into Bittner after the keeper had caught the ball but the referee was in quickly to prevent any trouble flaring up. Salisbury had a couple of half chances towards the end of the half, including a spectacular attempt at an overhead kick by Matt Tubbs but both efforts were well wide. Just before halftime Rushden had the best chance of the half when Byrne received a pass in space on the left and ran in on goal unchallenged by the defence. He took a shot that went past Bittner but the keeper got his angles right and the ball fizzed past the right hand post.
Rushden started the second half with a good chance when Akurang saw Bittner smother his shot when he was clear through. Salisbury gradually started to come into the game more and Clohessy had a shot well saved by Abbey. The Rushden keeper was getting some stick from the Salisbury fans for his name but took it in good humour. He managed to keep smiling when he got to a curling Tubbs freekick and was able to push the ball away from goal, just clear of the onrushing Bradley Gray who was looking for the rebound.
As the half went on a number of the Rushden supporters decided to brave the elements and head for the far goal to cheer their team on. I wasn't sure that was such a good idea as I was already starting to anticipate my first 0.0 draw since January 2008 but the game all changed in the 79th minute. Rushden put the ball into the box and it was headed clear by Darrell Clarke to the edge of the box where Paul Terry was waiting. He hit a great shot high into the top left corner and as I was directly in line I was left in no doubt that the ball was about to go in. Moments later the leaping supporters at the far end confirmed that the visitors had scored.
Salisbury had another scare three minutes later when Bittner ran out of his goal and took out Akurang while trying to slide in and clear a ball. Luckily for him the referee only gave a yellow card for the offence. Unluckily for Salisbury the freekick was whipped into the box with pace and ended up in the back of the net. At first I thought it had gone straight in but from the celebrations it became clear that the substitute O'Connor had scored with a glancing touch on the ball.
In the last minute Salisbury committed everyone forward when they won a free kick. The ball was played into the six yard box and led to a massive scramble in front of us, similar to a game you might have seen in a playground. Webb appeared to push the ball with his hand before it was hit in by Clarke but the officials couldn't have seen it and gave the goal. Abbey went mad and was booked for his furious protests. It didn't matter too much - from the restart Rushden went straight down the other end of the pitch and a shot across Bittner found it's target to give the visitors a 3.1 win. Not the result I was expecting with quarter of an hour to go!
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