Game 36: Salisbury City 1.0 Wrexham (FA Trophy) 15.01.11

In contrast to Tuesday night's narrow defeat to Chippenham in the League Cup, it was a full strength Salisbury team warming up for the visit of Conference Premier giants Wrexham in the FA Trophy. Andy and I mulled over the team line ups over some KitKats. I saw the corresponding league fixture last season and while there were some familiar faces from that day on the visiting team, only Clarke remained from the Salisbury side that earnt a 1.1 draw with a late Tubbs penalty.

A big crowd had turned up and the powers that be had decided to segregate the supporters. It looked as if the Wrexham fans were given some seats in the main stand judging by the red hats and scarfs at the far end which was just as well as the two mini-stands were set aside for Salisbury supporters and wet weather was forecast.

Salisbury kicked off but lost the ball and were immediately on the back foot as Wrexham forced a corner as a shot was pushed wide. In the 6th minute Wrexham's Obeng brought the ball down the left side before cutting in and hitting a good cross to the edge of the box only to see the ball scooped over the bar. Salisbury had to wait until the 9th minute for their first real chance of the game, a header from a freekick that was saved.

The wind was playing a big factor as it blew heavily across the pitch from right to left. In the 11th minute a Salisbury freekick found some real curve and shot towards the left side of the area, surprising everyone. Another surprise almost worked in Salisbury's favour in the 16th minute when a Wrexham defender missed his kick, allowing Reid to take possession. He decided to play a 1-2 only to run beyond the defensive line when receiving the ball and end up offside to the disappointment of the home fans.

They didn't have long to wait to forget that disappointment when Salisbury were awarded a penalty. Knight won the ball on the left side and cut into the penalty area, only to be felled by a lazy lunge from a defender. In the absence of Tubbs, Reid took responsibility for the penalty and sent the keeper the wrong way. From where we were stood we could watch the line of the ball at the far end and enjoy that split second moment of knowing there was going to be a goal before the ball crossed the line.

I was expecting Wrexham to show some fight after going a goal behind but the game settled down into a midfield scrap with no clearcut chances. The best chance came in the 42nd minute when the dangerous Obeng again cut in from the left only to see his cross cleared as the strikeforce all rushed into the 6 yard box and in front of the flight of the ball.

The second half started off in a similar fashion. The wind dropped down a little but by the 55th minute the clouds had opened and it was raining heavily. The crowd was announced as 1032 with 113 away supporters who were mostly getting a drenching. In the 62nd minute I thought Wrexham might score with a busy run across the area only for the ball to whistle well wide of the post. Dean Saunders must have seen enough and brought on Mangan up front to try and rescue his side.

Both teams were creating chances - Salisbury seemed incapable of shooting when in good positions while Wrexham lacked accuracy on their crosses. Clarke came off after 70 minutes and the team seemed to sit further and further back, defending very deep as Wrexham came onto them. After the goal Andy had started to give me a running countdown on how long we had to defend the lead for and his updates seemed to be getting closer and closer together as the clock ran down!

Wrexham had a good chance to score in the 77th minute when the ball was worked into the box and seemed to be deflecting all over the place. Luckily Salisbury managed to get it clear before a shot came in. Reid had been working hard upfront by himself for most of the half and was substituted in the 78th minute, Fitchett coming on to try and give some fresh legs to chase the clearances. The next 12 minutes seemed to take an age as Salisbury continued their backs to the wall defending, with a superb save by Smith in the 85th minute as a shot curved and then span away from him. Finally the referee blew for full-time and the cries of "Wembeeerrrrlllly!" could begin. A great performance for Salisbury's first home win against Wrexham in three attempts.