Game 9: Salisbury City 2.1 Basingstoke Town (Friendly) 07.08.10

After a late night and a couple of rain showers this morning, I decided to have a lazy day and take in Salisbury's last pre-season friendly against Conference South side Basingstoke Town.

Over the past year I've got to hear alot about the Basingstoke team from a colleague at work who follows their fortunes. After a good start last season they faded away after Christmas and ended up in mid-table. They made a number of signings early in pre-season and some of those new faces featured today, including ex Pompey keeper Chris Tardiff.

I arrived around half an hour before kickoff and the carpark was fairly empty. I wondered if this was an indication that the local support that increased as Southampton dropped down the leagues had decided to take a trip down to St Marys with the Saints pre-season favourites for promotion.

Following the announcement of new sponsors for the club, the old Hopback sign around the scoreboard has been replaced with a huge snail from the "Ask Eric" equity release advertising campaign. The well documented financial situation at the club means that no supporters will be permitted in the "away" end for most games this season. This is due to the safety certificate that still applies to the stadium and the cost of the necessary stewarding to open that part of the ground.

The game started with a controversial moment in the second minute. Basingstoke's Pratt ran into the box with the ball but was brought down by the legs of the Salisbury keeper. The referee awarded a penalty but declined to show any cards when perhaps in a league game the foul would have led to a straight red card.

Pratt picked himself up to take the penalty and hit a low shot to the keeper's left side. Keeper Pryce guessed the right way and made an excellent save to keep the ball out of the net. Some Basingstoke supporters on the side were understandably aggrieved by this as they felt the keeper should not have been on the pitch to face the spotkick.

Salisbury took the lead after 12 minutes. The ball was crossed towards the far post and Joyce headed the ball over Tardiff. It looked like it came down off the bar and the referee decided that the combined efforts of keeper and defender were not enough to keep it out of the net and awarded the goal.

Both teams had some decent passing moves but they often broke down in midfield as the accuracy wasn't good enough to beat the defence. Turley at the back for Salisbury impressed as both teams tried to find space behind the defences.Basingstoke had a good effort that went over the bar and McLaggon was close to a goal when a close range effort was scuffed into the keeper's hands.

McLaggon looked bright and was winning the ball back well in midfield to try and set up attacks. He was the subject of a couple of late tackles and in the 39th minute tempers boiled over as another late tackle took his legs. There was a brief melee between the two teams and the referee had to act quickly to calm things down.

Basingstoke won a freekick midway in the Salisbury half a a couple of minutes later. The ball was whipped into the box and headed out by a Salisbury defender, only to land nicely for Gasson to hit a shot. The ball took a deflection to leave Pryce on the floor, looking up at the ball going over his head and into the net.

As you would expect at a pre-season match, both teams made some changes at half-time and players were replaced on a regular basis thoughout the second half. Basingstoke came close to taking the lead in the 54th minute when Pryce missed a cross. Pratt gathered the ball but his shot was hooked wide of the goal by a defender for a corner.

The corner didn't amount to anything and shortly afterwards Salisbury took the lead. A long pass through the middle allowed Joyce in behind the defence. His intended run had been spotted by Tardiff who ran out to try and intercept the ball but Joyce was able to push the ball past him and into the penalty area. With the keeper stranded, Joyce kept his nerve and hit the ball into the net before a covering defender could catch up with him.

The atmosphere was fairly quiet and it was no surprise when the official attendance was announced as 385. Basingstoke came close to an equaliser in the last minute with a shot on target that Pryce pushed wide. On the evidence of today's performance the Salisbury regulars will have a lot to look forward to this season.