Game 19: Salisbury City 3.0 Fleetwood Town 11.11.06 (FA Cup)

Watching Salisbury play in the FA Cup 1st round always brings back childhood memories of a trip to the Dell to watch the Whites play Millwall (then top of Division 3). While a league team hadn't come out of the hat for this game, a home tie against Fleetwood Town was perhaps a good opportunity to progress to the 2nd round for the first time in my lifetime.

I arrived at the ground about an hour before kickoff to make sure of a good spot on the terrace and was presented with some 'Eon' balloons that you could clap together to create an 'atmosphere'. Perhaps not for the old cynic like me but certainly the young Whites fans were enjoying them.Met up with Andy and Paul who had left the warmth of the Village behind.



By 3 o clock the ground was packed (turned out to be a record attendance of 2,684). Fleetwood had brought down a good number of vocal supporters (the "Cod Army") who we stood just behind for most of the game. After some early pressure from Fleetwood, Matt Tubbs scored one of the best goals that I've seen at the Ray Mac. Chasing onto a Scott Bartlett ball, he outpaced his marker on the left hand side of the box and from an acute angle blasted the ball into the far corner of the net. The home fans went crazy as Tubbsy headed to the corner flag to celebrate. Salisbury seemed to be one pace ahead of their opposition in midfield and only a freekick from distance troubled Ryan Clarke, who made a great save. Tubbs had three good chances to score and was proving a real handful for the Fleetwood defence. He certainly impressed the Fleetwood fan I was stood next to who couldn't believe he was playing at this level.

Fleetwood came out for the second half determined to pull back a goal and put Salisbury under a lot of pressure in the first ten minutes or so. It was clear that one goal wasn't going to be enough. In the 66th minute Tubbs aimed a freekick towards the keeper's left. He should have saved it but spilled the ball into the path of Matt Holmes who gratefully popped it in the back of the net. Relief! Two minutes later and Tubbs turned provider again. A run and cross from the left was finished into the top of the net by Scott Bartlett who had an excellent game.



There was some trouble once the goal went in as a number of 'Fleetwood fans' who didn't seem to be genuine supporters decided to react to some childish taunting by trying to cause a fight. It looked like it was going to kick off and at one point a policeman's helmet flew down the terrace. Fortunately it didn't but perhaps the club will have to consider segregation in future cup games to avoid this again.





When the final whistle blew I wandered the long way round the pitch to applaud the team off - at last Salisbury City were in the draw for the 2nd round!

Game 18: Warminster Town 4.2 Petersfield Town 04.11.06 (Wess 1)

Took the train upto Warminster and arrived around 2pm in bright sunshine. The ground is pretty close to the station, a quick walk down to the high street, turn left and walk up a hill. I tried to take a shortcut on spotting the floodlights only to realise that there wasn't an entrance on the hillside and the footpath only lead to some houses.



Arrived at the ground and paid £3 to get in which seems to be the standard price for Wessex Div 1 football. The players of both teams were out warming up but there were only a couple of spectators outside - the bar was doing a roaring trade. It wasn't until 2.45 that the regulars started to appear (although a few timed it for the second half when the gateman had gone). The ground had a spectacular view over the town and the rolling wiltshire countryside behind it.



One noticeable element to the game was the lack of sponsorship for both teams shirts, a real change to the Wess Prem where sponsorship is the norm. Petersfield did have a PTFC logo on their shirt numbers to try and make up for it.



Warminster took the lead on 15 minutes with a clever run and shot from the edge of the area. Gaining in confidence, they scored a second 2 minutes later when a ball from the right flew over the last defender's head to a Warminster player on the edge of the box. He hit a great volley past the keeper to the delight of the home fans. However the team sat back on their lead and allowed Petersfield back into the game. After a couple of chances were wasted, a powerful run down the left hand side through the defence put a Petersfield player into space to pull a goal back with a stunning shot before halftime.



Took a wander around the pitch at halftime and watched the second half from the opposite side. The moon started to rise and there was a real chill in the air as there was no cloud cover. While Petersfield continued to press for an equaliser, the final ball was lacking and against the run of play on the 73rd minute Warminster made it 3.1 from the penalty spot as one of their players was brought down in the box. However the Warminster team again sat back and two minutes later it was game on again as Petersfield pulled another goal back, this time a cross from the left was met with a powerful shot and the keeper was unable to keep it from crossing the line by his left hand post. Warminster managed to hold on to their lead this time and scored again on the 87th minute with a breakaway attack.





Rushed back to the station to get the 5.05 train (which was delayed) and was back home by 6pm. An enjoyable game to watch and a friendly atmosphere - seems to be a common trend at Wessex One games!

Game 17: Salisbury City 2.1 Beaconsfield SYCOB (aet) 23.10.06 (FA Youth Cup)

An early start at the Ray Mac for a Monday night FA Youth Cup 3rd qualifying round match. Due to kick off at 7.30, I arrived at 7.25 as the game started but just in time to snag the last team sheet.

Salisbury started brightly and had 3 early chances cleared off the line, including one that span off the Beaconsfield keeper and almost looped in. This early pressure didn't lead to any goals and Beaconsfield came more into the game. In the absence of a large crowd (official attendance was 61, just over 1000 less than Saturday's league match), it was possible to hear the players boots pounding into the grass over the hum of the tannoy. By 20 minutes both teams had created some guilt edge chances but good blocking and a post kept the scoreline at 0.0.



Sometimes coaches get it right, sometimes they don't. As the Beaconsfield coach yelled to the left winger to take the man on, the left winger launched a long cross deep into the box and found Gavin James (one to watch, he caused the Salisbury defence problems all night long) at the far post and his volley found the back of the net. Salisbury continued to create chances and on 43 minutes created a well worked equaliser. A free kick was passed to the side and then forward, allowing Daniel Sloan to beat the offside trap and pass the ball into the back of the net.



Both teams continued to pass the ball well in the second half, especially considering the lightning, thunder and torrential rain that was passing over Salisbury. Despite a number of chances at both ends and some inventive free kick routines (5 at the back post running back onside as the freekick was played to the nearpost being one memorable one), neither team could find a winner during normal time so the match went into extra time. Gavin James had the best chance, bursting through the Salisbury defence from the halfway line and only a late blocking tackle from Fisher stopped a late winner.



The game progressed in the same way during extra time and it was difficult to see who would win. Salisbury attacked once more and found some space on the right side of the box. To try and close the Salisbury striker down, the Beaconsfield keeper rushed out and slid into the player rather than the ball, conceding a penalty which Joe Barron tucked away. I felt sorry for the keeper who was almost in tears before the kick, especially as it was difficult to see how the Salisbury player had the ball under control and could have scored given the ball was speeding across the pitch. Despite a late rally, Beaconsfield were unable to find a way past the Salisbury defence and the game finished with the home side victorious.

The next leg (1st round proper) features league clubs from Div 1 and 2 like Swindon and Yeovil. Salisbury have an away draw against either Westfield or East Grinstead and perhaps a better chance to progress further in the tournament.

A good evening's entertainment for 2 pounds!

Game 16: VTFC 3.1 Horndean 14.10.06 (Wess Prem)

The last of the five grounds in this season's Wessex Premier to visit and a bit of a holy grail as I've been trying to clear the grounds of the top flight of Wessex league football for a few years now.

Drove down on the M27 and realised as I came off at the junction that this was the way I'd driven to Matt's in Woolston about 10 years previously. Despite this, I still managed to overshoot the entrance to the ground and had to u turn to get to the ground.




The game kicked off in overcast conditions and the weather didn't improve much throughout although there were a few bursts of sunlight through the clouds. The familar faces on the VTFC team where Tyronne Bowers and Ryan Ashford, both of whom had joined from Eastleigh. Bowers was playing as a makeshift striker and scored a cracking 30 yard effort in the first half, topped off with a Lua Lua gymnastic style celebration. VFFC had been pressurising Horndean from the start, assisted by Horndean's keeper not being able to kick with any distance and had hit the post and had a goal disallowed before that effort.

A minute later and it all seemed in vain. Horndean had managed a quick counter attack and a lob over the keeper from the edge of the box meant it was 1.1 going into half time.







The second half followed a similar pattern but Horndean were unlucky not to score on a couple of occasions. They got stretched at the back and conceded a second goal with a long shot past the keeper. In trying to restore parity, they got hit with a sucker punch of a goal in the last minute, created and scored by 2 of the VTFC substitutes. The ball curled beautfully into the corner to finally defeat Horndean.

Game 15: Lymington Town 0.0 Shrivenham (aet) 7.10.06 (FA Vase)

Left Salisbury in bright sunshine heading down the A36 to the fourth of the five current Wessex Premier League grounds I hadn't visited before. By the time I reached Lymington's ground (a couple of wrong turns later) it started to cloud over. Parked close to the touchline which allowed the gateman at this entrance to wander over at his own time and collect my admission fee - judging by the number of people who came in later, it would have been worth his while staying a bit longer!



Reading the Hellenic League website before the game, the Shrivenham manager described this fixture as the biggest in the club's history. Sadly it didn't live up to this billing. In a dour first half, Shrivenham made a couple of chances but neither team were passing well in the final third of the pitch and shots were few and far between. Lymington came out at half-time a changed side and made more of the play - helped by a couple of substitutions that added some more pace to the frontline. However there were still few shooting opportunities and the game didn't come to life at all. Perhaps the sign behind the goalmouth stating 'no playing in the goalmouth' was taken too literally!




At the end of the 90 mins I was happy to be heading off in the car and before I left I had a listen to the Radio Solent roundup of the other FA Vase games in the area. As I started to drive out I realised that the players were still on the pitch and the referee was in discussions with both managers. I reversed the car up and waited to see what was happening - it turned out that extra time was due to be played and the referee had pulled up with a muscle problem so a substitute had to be found to run the line. Sat in the car listening to an uninspired England game, watching a similar game in extra time. Despite the vocal Shrivenham support, it was Lymington who came closest to scoring with 2 shots that sailed wide and a shot from 6 yards that was cleared off the line when it looked easier to score.




No penalties, the game will be replayed at Shrivenham on Tuesday night.

Game 14: Romsey Town 4.0 QK Southampton 27.09.06 (WESS LC)

Although I've driven past Romsey's ground a few times I'd not seen a game there before so a Wednesday night evening League Cup game was an opportunity not to miss. Looking at the form of both teams before the game was a good indication of what to expect - Romsey doing well in Wessex Division 1 while QK Southampton (found out before the game QK stands for Queen's Keep) had lost all of their games in Wessex Division 2.



Andy drove down - his third game in three days after watching the league games at Portsmouth and Bournemouth - and we arrived at the ground in plenty of time as we didn't want to be caught out by a 7.30 start. Arriving at the ground, the gatekeeper asked if we were players or spectators - despite the temptation to advise him we were playing, we thought better of it and handed over our money. Had a flick through the programme which was free but didn't contain a lot of information, even the away team line up was blank. Enjoyed a drink in the bar before the teams came out for the first half.



Despite the previous form, QK started quite brightly and coped well with the Romsey pressure. Indeed at times it appeared that the Romsey players had too much time to think about what they should do (rather than play with their instincts) and the chances that they could have created were cleared. When they did manage to get shots on target, the QK keeper was equal to them until the 40th minute when a shot from outside the area flew past him.




Romsey scored again in the 50th minute as a free kick from the left was met in the area with a fierce shot that the keeper couldn't get near. It took until the 85th minute for a third, the QK keeper parried a freekick but a Romsey striker followed up (as all good strikers should do) and popped the ball in from close range. Despite missing a couple of chances earlier in the game, De'Ath killed off the game in the 90th minute, beating the offside trap and lobbing the keeper to make it 4.0

Game 13: Bemerton Heath Harlequins 2.3 Wimborne Town (aet) 26.09.06 (WESS LC)

Popped over to Bemerton to watch their League Cup game with Wimborne. The original plan was to meet Andy at the ground but he decided to head down to watch Bournemouth v Bristol City.



Bemerton took a two goal lead (the first a free kick from 25 yards that wouldn't have looked out of place in the Champions League) in the first half while Wimborne hit the post, the bar and had a goal disallowed. To the delight of the 10 or so behind the goal, Wimborne pulled a goal back - a clearance by a Bemerton defender appeared to cannon of the Wimborne striker into the net. Wimborne scored again to take the game into extra time and scored a third from a header to win the tie.

Game 12: Salisbury City 3.1 Bishops Stortford 23.09.06 (NCS)

A glorious sunny afternoon saw the 2nd and 3rd placed teams in the league matched up and a cracking game of football in front of 1142 spectators - the 12th highest attendance at the ground (based on the attendance list in the programme).

A Matt Tubbs special on 80 seconds gave Salisbury an early lead which they held until half-time - running onto a Luke Prince pass he accelerated past the last defender, took the ball towards the keeper, picked his angle and slotted it in.



Met Stu for the second half and left the cover of the terrace to watch from the side. Another quick goal for Salisbury - an early corner found it's way to Simon Browne who lashed it in from close range. Both teams were playing neat passing football and it wasn't a surprise when Stortford equalised.... I was in the queue at the teabar and just saw the goal before the queue snaked forward - a well taken header from a corner. While I was still waiting in the queue, Salisbury attacked again and won a corner. The ball was initially cleared but Simon Browne crossed it over to Tim Bond who headed it over the keeper and into the net for the third. Fortunately it happened at the end of the ground you can see clearly from the teabar!


News filtered through at the end that Histon had lost 2.1 at Havant & Waterlooville so Salisbury were top of the league!

Game 11: Laverstock & Ford 6.2 Andover New Street 16.09.06 (Wess 1)

Spoilt for choice locally with Laverstock and Bemerton at home in the league and Downton home in the FA Cup. Decided to pay my first visit to Laverstock’s ground which I’ve seen many times from the train to London.

Arrived about 2.30 which seemed to be pretty early, only 1 other paying customer in the ground. Very good programme for a pound with details of the home team, updates on recent games, a Wessex League round up and directions to all the League 1 teams which will come in handy over the next few months. Apparently the club are looking to install a 50 man stand to go with the recently installed floodlights and the current work on putting a hard standing around the ground. It looks as if at some point the pitch has been moved as behind one of the goals was an isolated dug out. Weather was overcast cloud all afternoon, which isn’t the best for photography.



Laverstock started off brightly but it was difficult to see where a goal was going to come from during the first 20 mins. Laverstock were playing some good passing football but weren’t making any clearcut chances. Out of the blue Andover scored a couple of goals in quick succession – one where the keeper came out early and the Andover player took it round the keeper and one bullet header from a corner. Laverstock managed to pull a goal back with a header to go in at half time 2.1 down.


Was a bit worried about where the car was parked but only 1 ball went over to that part of the car park and just skidded off the bumper. Handy for half time as I could pop into the car and listen to the half time updated from Radio Wiltshire and Radio Solent.


Laverstock started the second half brightly and pulled a goal back shortly after the restart. The game then settled down and it was again difficult to see where a goal was going to come from. Chatting to one of the Laverstock regulars, it appeared that they were finding goals hard to come by in the past couple of weeks. However a period of pressure led to a third and then a final flourish towards the end where three more goals were added in quick succession. The pick of the bunch was a 35 yard strike, which flew across the keeper and into the net.

Game 10: Salisbury City 1.0 Welling United 01.09.06 (NCS)

A Friday night fixture due to England’s World Cup fixture on the Saturday and a chance to catch up with Alan who was making his first Salisbury appearance of the season. Andy was on one of his European jaunts, perhaps wisely given his unofficial Welling away end membership card, although we did spot his Welling supporting mate Stuart in the car park before the game. Salisbury had not beaten Welling in their six previous meetings and it didn’t look like that would change in a scrappy first half. However a much improved Salisbury team came out for the second half and Matt Tubbs popped in the winner from a Prince cross in the second half.




After the game we popped into the bar rather than wait in the car for the traffic to subside and Alan almost quizzed Jon Bass on his days in the Reading reserve team…. maybe next time!