Game 29: Salisbury City 4.2 Didcot Town (Southern Prem) 04.12.10

I hadn't expected to find a game on today due to snow in the week. However I hadn't considered the determination and efforts of the groundstaff and volunteers at Salisbury in clearing the snow from the pitch to get this game on. Salisbury have had a good start to the season and were unbeaten at home going into today's match.

I drove up to the Ray Mac and managed to squeeze the car in to some space on the tarmac near the entrance. I wandered in and took up position near one of the goals. I decided not to carry my normal camera to the game as it was still freezing cold outside and I didn't want to lose any fingers to frostbite! There were mounds of snow around the side of the pitch but the main surface was clear and looked perfect for a game of football.

Salisbury started the game with some urgency and Knight was unlucky not to score at the far end after 7 minutes when he scuffed a shot into the arms of the grateful Didcot keeper. In the 18th minute Giles put a header over the bar from a corner and the deadlock was finally broken in the 25th minute. McLaggon hit a good low shot that the keeper saved but spilt and Jake Reid was on hand to slide in and scramble the ball in.

This seemed to wake Didcot and they had a couple of chances with a shot way over the bar and another that fell just wide of the post. In the 35th minute a cross from the right deceived the Salisbury keeper and he missed the ball and it flew into the net. As the visitors started to celebrate I looked to my left and saw the assistant had his flagged raised. The referee went over to him and after a short, nervous wait for the home supporters he disallowed the goal and gave a freekick for offside. The Didcot players were furious and tried to go over to the assistant before being turned away by the referee.

Didcot's next chance was a little easier for the officials. A shot from their no 10 was so far off target that the official had to raise his flag - this time for a Salisbury throw in! Salisbury made the most of these let offs and were unlucky not to get a second when Knight had a shot that was cleared off the line. in the 41st minute McLaggon hit a low shot that the keeper pushed out but straight to the feet of Kelly who tapped the ball in for a 2.0 halftime lead.

Salisbury had some more luck in the 46th minute when Jake Reid put a cross into the middle and the ball came off a defender's attempted clearance and into the net. The game settled down after that and both teams played their part in an entertaining end to end encounter. Didcot continued to work hard and got their reward in the 64th minute when the ball was played into the area from the byline and then tapped into an unguarded net to make the score 3.1.

Salisbury had been a bit sloppy in conceding the ball for the goal but soon made amends. Pacey substitute Silver came on and from an early touch sped down the right side. He hit a low cross into the penalty area with pace to find Jake Reid running onto the ball. He hit it on the run past the keeper to restore the three goal lead.

The scoring wasn't over and perhaps the best finish of the game came after 82 minutes when ex Southampton player Dutton-Black received the ball on the right side of midfield, looked up and hit a great chipped shot to beat the Salisbury keeper. The weather had turned to heavy rain and Salisbury were lucky not to concede again near the end when Didcot missed a free header from a free kick. A good performance from both teams for the 608 who made the effort to turn up in these conditions.