Salisbury dominated the possession and goal attempts in the first half but weren't able to get onto the scoresheet. After an early scare when Bittner had to react quickly to get onto a strongly hit backpass, they created 3 chances in the next ten minutes. After 4 minutes Gray put in a cross that just eluded Tubbs and two minutes Tubbs turned a low show just over the bar. In the 9th minute a great crossfield switch ball found Bull in plenty of space on the left wing. He ran into the box and put a good pass into Tubbs but the striker was crowded off the ball and hit a shot that lacked power at the keeper.
In the 23rd minute it was Tubbs who turned provider as he put in a great cross from the right that Shephard won in the centre and knocked back to the near post only to see Gray head the ball wide when it looked easier to score. Hayes looked comfortable on the ball but their approach play let them down. Gray had a half chance in the 32nd minute when he headed the ball over the keeper but saw the ball cleared off the line. In the last minute of the half both Tubbs and Shephard had the ball in the area but couldn't get a shot away before Hayes cleared the ball. By the time the referee blew the whistle, Hayes hadn't had a shot on or off target.
This changed at the start of the second half as Hayes put a bit more pressure on the Salisbury defence. A great cross field pass was thumped into the box and Bittner split the ball under pressure before grabbing the ball on the ground. In the 58th minute Tubbs put Gray in but he couldn't outmuscle the covering defender and the ball went out for a goalkick. That was his last contribution to the game as Reid was brought on to partner Tubbs for the last half hour. He was a spectator as the referee got in the way of a Salisbury clearance and Hayes won the ball on the edge of the box and had their first shot on target, albeit covered by Bittner all the way.
Bittner was at the centre of attention a few minutes later when Hayes won a couple of corners. He dealt with the first one well, tipping the pacey cross over the bar but the second one caused some problems. The ball was played up high into the area and when it fell towards the ground he flapped at it and was almost caught out.
Salisbury continued to create chances. Turley put a header just over the bar and Tubbs had a good shot from a freekick well saved. It looked like they were lacking a bit of creativity in midfield so in the 66th minute Flood replaced Bull. The impact was sensational - with his first touch of the ball he dribbled through the middle of the pitch and put a cross towards a gaggle of players heading to the far post. Adelsbury beat the covering defenders to the ball and headed it over to the near post where Tubbs forced the ball into a tiny gap between the keeper and the post to give Salisbury the lead.
Tubbs almost added a second from a dreadful error by the Hayes defence a minute later. The goalkeeper took a short goalkick to a defender on the edge of the area who wasn't expecting the ball. It rolled past him and to Tubbs who saw the keeper out of position and hit a first time pass that rolled agonisingly wide of the post. A real poacher's effort that deserved a goal. Salisbury were almost undone by a keeper error themselves in the 77th minute. Bittner came out of goal to try and clear the ball and decided to dribble up the wing. He lost the ball and was lucky that the shot towards an unguarded net was intercepted by a defender first.
A minute later and Flood played a great throughball for Reid to run onto. He cleverly dummied the keeper and took the ball round him. It looked like he had taken the ball too wide but he managed to get a shot in at an acute angle which ended up in the net thanks to a deflection of a defender. Eight minutes later and it was 3.0 when Shephard received the ball in the penalty area. It looked like he had been crowded out by the defence but managed to turn and hit a shot that deflected off a defender and past the outstretched glove of the Hayes keeper.
Hayes pulled back an equaliser in injury time following a goalmouth scramble that the defence couldn't clear in time to stop the ball going over the line. The goal was given by the assistant who was well placed to see the flight of the ball. It wasn't enough to change the game but gave the 20 away supporters in a crowd of 755 something to cheer about. Forest Green had beaten Crawley so Hayes were not clear of relegation but the win means that Salisbury have survived a ten point deduction to stay in this league for next season.
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