With limited options in the local leagues, I decided to head up to the Ray Mac to watch the Whites take on Wrexham. The earlier rain had passed over and there was some sunshine as I drove up to the ground.
The first half started fairly quietly and the game had more of a pre-season feel to it. Salisbury had some injury problems in defence and Chris Bush made his first start in the centre with Patrick Cox. Wrexham had the best of the early exchanges and had one free kick narrowly over the bar. Salisbury had a brief flourish in the 14th minute when Matt Tubbs put a curling volley just over the bar from a Clohessy cross from the right wing.
The ball was soon at the other end and Wrexham were unlucky not to take the lead in the 16th minute. The ball was played into the near post from a corner and hit the post. The ball was cleared temporarily before being struck past Bittner and bouncing into the net but this effort was disallowed for offside.
In the 18th minute the lively Holden beat the offside trap and ran into the box where he was met by Bittner coming off his line. Holden got to the ball first and put a chip over Bittner's outstretched arms but past the post. Salisbury had a couple of chances after that with a header and a close range shot but both were hit straight at the goalkeeper.
Rob Sinclair made a trademark driving run through the centre of midfield on the half hour but looked to have overstretched when he passed the ball. He fell to the floor and had to be helped off as he was unable to walk unassisted. Stuart Anderson came on to replace him as it looked like a nasty injury.
Wrexham came close again to breaking the deadlock in the 32nd minute. The ball was worked out well to the right hand of the Salisbury penalty area and then crossed low into the centre. Andy Mangan had made a great run and pulled away from his marker only to see the ball fly through the crowd of players and end up just behind him.
Salisbury had a better start to the second half. In the 48th minute Tubbs ran onto a long throughball and took it past the Wrexham keeper but in doing so had to play the ball to the far left of the penalty area. He brought the ball under control and played a controlled chip looking to get the ball past the covering man on the line but the ball was headed away. The game seemed to settle down after that and both teams created some half chances but no clear cut scoring opportunities.
Wrexham finally got the break their approach play deserved in the 68th minute. The ball was played forward into the box from the right wing and looked to get a flick on past the defence. This allowed Wrexham's Christian Smith to run in on the far side and deflect the ball past Bittner into the net. A minute later and Salisbury were correctly reduced to ten men. Mangan had the beating of Cox as both players turned to chase down a throughball so Cox grabbed his shirt and pulled him back. The referee spotted this and had no choice but to send him off.
Wrexham should have extended their lead three minutes later. Holden played a superb cross from the left to an unmarked Mangan but from a few yards out his header flew over the bar. A really bad miss and one that gave Salisbury some hope of getting something from the game. In the 81st minute Adelsbury belted a shot from nearly 40 yards that flew over the defence and the goalkeeper but finished up wide of the post. If it had gone in it would have been in my top 10 nonleague goals of all time!
In the 88th minute Chris Flood ran into the box to chase a throughball and was brought down when defender Obeng tried to clear the ball and got the man instead. Matt Tubbs stepped up and beat the keeper from the penalty spot to give Salisbury a chance of a point that seemed unlikely twenty minutes before. The Whites managed to hold on against some belated attacking football from Wrexham through the 5 minutes of injury time to get the draw.
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