Another Tuesday night, another visit to the Ray Mac as Salisbury continued to catch up on the fixtures that were delayed due to their FA Trophy run and the bad weather earlier in the season. After losing at the weekend Salisbury were still top of the division but only had a 2 point lead over second placed Truro with no games in hand so it was vital for them to pick up a win against mid-table opposition. Swindon Supermarine had a couple of familiar faces in their line up - former loanee Ashan Holgate was starting up front while joint player manager and former Whites defender Matt Robinson was in his familiar right back role.
Salisbury had not been at their best defensively on my previous visits and came really close to another defensive calamity in the first minute. A back pass was rolling sideways in the area for Smith to clear but he decided to let it run without looking to his left. A Swindon player was running in to the area and couldn't believe his luck, knocking the ball past the keeper. Luckily for Salisbury his first touch was far too heavy and on the damp surface the ball skidded out of play before he could re-direct it into the empty net.
Salisbury picked themselves up and put together a good move in the third minute, cumulating in Clarke hitting a low shot narrowly past the keeper. I was surprised to see the ball get to him as there were earlier chances to have a shot and this became a trend throughout the half. Salisbury would break away but not have the confidence to take on the last player so the ball would come back out again, allowing Swindon to regroup and make it even more difficult for the second wave of attack to break through.
Despite this flaw, there were some good chances to score in the first ten minutes. McLaggon hooked a shot over the bar from a Reid knockdown and Shephard hit a dipping, curving freekick from the right onto the top of the post with the keeper well beaten. As the game wore on, the finishing began to get a bit more desperate. McLaggon was the worst culprit, hitting an early shot that was so far wide that it was closer to the corner flag than the goal at the point it crossed the line. Some of the passing became hit and hope, one wag in the crowd reminding the team in white that 'Robinson doesn't play for us anymore' as the experienced defender cut out another mishit pass.
The 26th minute saw a good move from Kelly who passed the ball into McLaggon. His confidence appeared to be low as he decided to take an extra touch instead of hitting the ball first time. This control didn't help with the final shot as the ball was hit wide, perhaps not helped by the defenders having an extra second to put in a challenge for the ball. A freekick in the 29th minute brought out a good save from the visiting keeper at the near post.
Swindon hadn't had any real opportunities of note but came close to taking the lead in the 40th minute from a shot from outside the area that took a dip towards goal and looked to be heading over Smith's head and in. The keeper was alert to this and dived backwards to tip the ball over the bar. There were a number of heavy challenges on McLaggon but the referee took no action until the 42nd minute when he flashed a yellow card at a defender. I thought that there were grounds for a red, especially when you could hear the impact from the other end of the pitch. By the time the referee blew the whistle, the optimists around me seemed happy enough and the general consensus was 'at least we're not losing!'.
I felt that Salisbury needed to be more direct with their play in the final third and not be afraid to take players on as this would be their best opportunity to score. I was pleased to see McLaggon was of the same opinion as he burst through in the 49th minute, only to see his shot saved by the keeper's legs. In the 54th minute a superb through ball across the area by Clarke allowed Reid to run onto the ball and take on the last man. Reid used his physique to shield the ball before hitting a low shot under the keeper and in. An excellent finish and one that was well received by the majority of the crowd of 604.
At 1.0 Swindon were still in the game and they came close to an equaliser in the 62nd minute. The ball was played long upfield and flicked on to a player in space. He drove forward and hit his shot just wide of the left post. The number of backpasses were making the crowd a bit nervous as they wanted to see the ball up at their end of the pitch. In the 72nd minute a great pass by Shephard put Clarke through on the right side and his shot was deflected wide for a corner. That came to nothing, allowing Swindon to regroup and take the ball to the other end of the pitch to win a corner themselves.
From the corner Holgate had a shot that was cleared for another corner. That corner was played out by the keeper and the third corner that followed saw a desperate scramble after a goalbound shot was blocked by a player. Eventually the ball was hit upfield and from the breakaway a good through ball saw McLaggon accelerate to outpace the covering defender, take the ball round the keeper then slip the ball into the empty net from the acute angle to give Salisbury a 2.0 win. The player was delighted to break his recent goalscoring duck although he was substituted moments later.
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