The journey up to Stevenage was pretty uneventful and we got to the ground about an hour and a half before kick off. This gave us plenty of time to wander across the busy road to the bar where the FA Trophy was on display for supporters to get themselves photographed with it. After catching some of the Fulham v Man Utd game on Sky, wandered into the ground about 2.15 to take in the pre-match atmosphere. There were about 500 Whites fans in a crowd of 2,148 and most of the noise was coming from them.
Unlike last year's Quarter Final tie, we were allocated a seated end so the squeeze to try and find some space wasn't an issue. I headed over to the far side so the goal was to my right (old habits die hard!) and watched the teams warm up.
Before the game I felt that we had a good chance to get something from this tie but that feeling soon evaporated. Stevenage were playing some great one touch football on the ground and ex England International Steve Guppy was getting into some good crossing positions on the side nearest me. While the Salisbury supporters were in good song, the referee was cracking down on anything physical which suited Stevenage. Paul Sales was booked early on for putting his elbows up when trying to flick the ball on for Matt Tubbs and the Stevenage back four were mopping up anything that came near their box. However the referee did seem to be inconsistent in his decision making, favouring the home team on more than one occasion.
After a couple of early scares, Stevenage took the lead. Following a weaving run down the right wing, the ball was passed across the area and found Daryl McMahon unmarked at the edge of the area. His shot sped past Clarke into the back of the net, some saying that it had been deflected. The scoreline stayed the same to halftime although Tubbs did manage one spectacular shot it was always rising above the crossbar.
In the second half Salisbury continued to battle in vain for an equaliser. A few more chances were created but the killer pass was lacking. It reminded me of watching Salisbury play Chesham the previous season - except that day Salisbury were the ones playing ball to feet, getting into good positions and breaking with pace.
The second goal came as a result of pace - Ryan Clarke came out of his goalmouth to try and sweep up a long ball but was beaten to it. When the cross was delivered to the centre of the box it meant that Morison had an empty goal to aim out and from 6 yards he wasn't going to miss.
Robbie Matthews came on as a sub and almost immediately made a difference, his pace troubling the Stevenage team who had grown used to the high balls looking for Sales. Matt Tubbs was unlucky to see a ball cleared off the line from short range with a spectacular overhead kick.
The referee had shown that he was not going to allow the Salisbury players to make challenges that he felt were dangerous or to discuss the unpunished dangerous Stevenage tackles without granting a yellow card so when Matthews broke through the defence on the left but was given offside, it wasn't a surprise that he was given a yellow card for kicking the ball away. However moments later when he won a header in the box, the referee seemed to be indicating that any more contentious challenges and he would be off. That didn't sink in with Robbie and when he slid in for a 50/50 challenge from behind a Stevenage defender you could almost see the smile on the referees face as he ran towards him at full pace brandishing a yellow then red card.
At the time I was furious with the referee, possibly the most angry I've been at a non-league game since last season's FA Trophy game at Exeter. On reflection, perhaps the Salisbury players didn't adapt to the style of a "Fast Track - tick all the boxes in assessments apart from common sense" referee because they don't see that kind of refereeing week in week out. Mr Ward is already running the line in Premiership games but didn't seem to get into good positions to see challenges that ended up unpunished. Perhaps he was already thinking of his trip to Cardiff for the 5th official role at the League Cup final the next day....
The decision wound up many supporters around me, who were well placed to see the challenge. Some of them spilled down to the front of the stand and for a moment it looked as if there might be some trouble. It also wound up the Salisbury bench and Tommy Widdrington was banished to the stands for expressing his view - probably a few too many expletives for the referee.
Stevenage made the most of the man advantage and wrapped up the win in the 90th minute. Ryan Clarke made two superb saves at close range but couldn't keep the third shot out after his save for the second came back off the crossbar. Stevenage certainly deserved to win the game but the scoreline did flatter them in the end. Unlike last year, the defeat wasn't caused by a poor referee but you have to wonder what the result would have been if the referee had been consistent in his decision making.
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