After sitting through a nerve wracking draw waiting for Salisbury's ball to appear, it was great to see a home tie but perhaps a little disappointing not to see a Football League club preparing to head to the Ray Mac. However the visit of Arlesey Town of the Southern Premier league did give the Whites an opportunity to progress to the second round of the FA Cup for only the second time in my lifetime. Arlesey had beaten Forest Green from the Conference Premier in the last round and a couple of Conference South sides in earlier rounds so not a team to be underestimated.
I walked over to the ground at 2.15 and got through the turnstiles in a couple of minutes. The ground seemed fairly empty and didn't start to fill up until 2.45 when I had finished reading the programme. That reading time was slightly spoilt by the realisation that I wouldn't be able to make the next round unless Salisbury were lucky enough to get a Friday or Sunday TV game. An announcement came over the tannoy that due to big queues outside the turnstiles, the kick off would be delayed until 3.15. With the England friendly against Spain due to kick off at 5.15 there were a few groans as people realised that they wouldn't have much time to get back home. I could still see cars coming up to the ground at 3 and the terrace behind the goal was much busier by the time the teams came out. The final attendance was later confirmed as 1298. As it was the nearest game to Remembrance Sunday, two serving soldiers led the teams out with a couple of poppy wreaths that were laid in the centre circle for the minute's silence.
As Salisbury were kicking towards the Portway end for the first half I decided to wander round and took up a spot near the goal. A number of Arlesey supporters had stayed down this end and it was nice to have the unsegregated freedom to wander around the ground. Arlesey looked well organised and I recognised David Perpetuni from his time in the league at Watford.
The first goalscoring opportunity fell to Salisbury in the 10th minute from a corner. As a couple of players ran forward towards the corner taker, the ball was played to the back post where Salisbury's number 3 headed it just over the bar. In the 12th minute Salisbury took a throw on the left side and a pass was played to Fitchett in the area. His first touch looked a little strong but it took the ball past the covering defender. From an acute angle he placed a high shot away from a defender's sliding leg, over the keeper and under the crossbar at the near post- a fantastic finish!
There weren't many chances after that, the closest to a goal came in the 26th minute when Reid overran the ball and it went out of play before his cross to Adlesbury. His shot found the back of the net and many supporters further away thought that Salisbury had extended their lead. It was a shame that the low drive was disallowed as it was a great controlled finish but the assistant called it right. Salisbury came close to adding a second when Knight flicked a shot from outside the area over the keeper's dive, only to see the ball crash down off the crossbar. Quick reactions saw a Salisbury player reach the bouncing ball ahead of the defence but the header was straight to the goalkeeper.
Arlesey had forced a couple of corners early on but didn't have a clear goal attempt until the 35th minute when Smith had to be alert to tip a dipping shot over the crossbar. From the corner, the next shot cleared the top of the stand and flew out of the ground but the intent from the visitors to get back into the game was clear. In the 40th minute a good run down the right wing saw the ball cleared to the edge of the Salisbury area. Some good passing then found a fullback in space on the left side and he put a dangerous cross to the far post. An Arlesey player hit his shot straight onto a Salisbury player's boot and the ball cannoned up into the air. A Salisbury player got a head to it but his header was weak and didn't clear the ball away from danger. Instead it went back to an Arlesey player who hooked a shot over Smith and in. It later turned out to be Dean Sinclair, brother of ex-Salisbury player Rob Sinclair. In the final moments of injury time Arlesey won a corner which was flicked on at the near side of the area and flew across goal and off the top of the crossbar with Smith stranded. From looking down and out, the visitors were back in the game and unfortunate not to be in the lead at the interval.
For the second half I decided to wander around to the touchline and watch from the opposite side to the main stand. The earlier warm weather had me wondering whether I just needed a shirt on but I was glad that I had opted for the fleece jacket as it started to get cold once the sun went down. The half didn't kick off until 4.21 at a time when most of the other ties were three quarters of the way through. There were a couple of potential upsets I noted, including Maidenhead United leading Aldershot by a goal to nil.
The first chance of the half fell to Salisbury, a lucky bounce of the ball after Reid lost it in the box fell to Fitchett and his shot looked in from my angle but went just past the post. Two minutes after this Arlesey had a great counter-attacking move as they played a long ball down the right side for a player to chase. He beat a defender then played the ball to a team mate who ran onto the ball in the area. With one touch he played it back to the first man who continued his run into the area. He dummied a shot to take the covering man away from the ball, then hit a shot that Smith had covered.
Smith threw the ball out to Adlesbury who had plenty of space to run forward. As he approached the halfway line he played a long ball up towards Reid and Fitchett who were on the edge of the area. Fitchett ran across to the left side and behind the defender who mistimed his header and allowed the ball to fall behind him. Fitchett ran onto the ball while the defender recovered and ran back towards the touchline. Fitchett dropped his shoulder and tried to get the ball round the defender. His second touch put the ball past the defender's foot before leg's made contact. Although the keeper had grabbed the ball, the referee had already blown and was pointing to the spot for a penalty. He booked the defender for the challenge and after a few protests, Reid stepped up and blasted the ball low to the right, just beating the keeper's dive.
It summed up the drama of the FA Cup - moments before the underdogs had come close to scoring and now they found themselves behind. They didn't let their heads drop and took the game to Salisbury. In the 56th minute they came close again to equalising. Another good move saw the ball played into the area and the striker managed to get the ball round Smith only for the keeper to use his leg to tap the ball away to a team mate to clear.
We were being treated to an end to end game as both teams decided to attack. Reid saw a shot from a tight angle tipped over the bar, Adlesbury had a trademark thump at a freekick punched out by the keeper and substitute Kelly saw a clearance balloon off him towards goal, only for the keeper to push it over the bar. In between those Salisbury chances Arlesey thought they had an equaliser but the goal was disallowed for a foul on Kelly in the buildup to the disappointment of the away support. Both teams looked to have one more goal in them and it finally came in the 89th minute. Reid took the ball down the left wing before passing to Anderson. He looked to be about to shoot only to roll the ball across the edge of the penalty area to an unmarked Kelly in space. He hit an exquisite high curling shot that bounced into the net via the post to kill the game off. It could have gone either way but the Whites were into round 2, 90 minutes and 1 win away from joining the Premier League superstars in the hat.
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