Since my last Tuesday night visit to the Ray Mac, for the 6.0 defeat to Truro, Salisbury had moved back to the top of the table with a 5 point lead over Truro with a game in hand. This match against 3rd placed Cambridge City had been rearranged from February and I expected a close match given the league positions and the 3.3 draw at Cambridge earlier in the season. The weather had been bright and sunny during the day but as I left home it started to rain. There was a minute silent before the match and all you could hear was the rain bouncing off the terrace roofing as 860 spectators fell quiet.
The game was surprisingly open as both teams came out with the aim of securing all three points. Salisbury were missing a few players through injury and suspension but had secured Hart as defensive cover on loan from Bath City for a month. Salisbury were playing some close passes but the accuracy was lacking at times, allowing Cambridge to build attacks. Salisbury's team was also lacking in height with several players up against opposition who were 6-7 inches taller. This was evident in the 9th minute when Cambridge were able to outmuscle the defensive cover to get a header on target.
Cambridge weren't the only ones making passing errors, one promising move came to an end when a player completely missed the ball, letting it go for a throw in. An underhit pass in the 13th minute let Reid in but his run at goal was soon brought to an end when he overhit the ball and had to scuff a shot quickly before the defender could get to the ball. Reid was causing some problems for the Cambridge defence, having a penalty shout turned down and shrugging off defenders to hit a shot over the bar in the 23rd minute. Cambridge ended up with the first booking when Shephard was brought down when moving on to a clever pass but the freekick was wasted with the ball hurtling well over the bar from an unmarked header as the player got under rather than over the ball.
Cambridge took the lead in the 28th minute in controversial circumstances. A high ball was lofted into the area and it looked as if Smith had an easy catch to make when a header bounced up off the turf in the six yard box. To my surprise he seemed to make no attempt to catch the ball and it looped over his head and in. The assistant referee had his flag up but the referee awarded the goal. After some prompting from the Salisbury defenders the referee went over to his assistant but didn't change his mind and the goal stood. It appeared that the goalkeeper had relied on the flag rather than wait for the whistle - a really soft goal to concede.
Cambridge came close to adding a second goal on the half hour when an unchallenged player put a cross in from the left that went over the keeper's head, with the crossbar coming to the rescue. A lucky escape at one end was matched by another lucky escape at the other - a deflected Salisbury shot went just the wrong side of the post with the Cambridge keeper stranded - the two chances were almost a cameo of two of the goals Hayles had scored for Truro! The goal seemed to have reduced the Salisbury players confidence and they were making some basic errors in dangerous positions. The short passing patterns they were keen to use at the back were being cut out by Cambridge players pressing high up the pitch. Free kicks were being rushed and ended up putting the team in trouble with no advantage. They did come close to scoring just before halftime when the ball bounced back into play from a corner flag - this set up a passing move that saw the Cambridge keeper make a good save. From the resulting corner Cambridge had to be alert to kick the ball off the goal line.
During the half time interval Cambridge's supporters moved their flags onto the back wall of the away end with three on display. Salisbury didn't spend long in the dressing room and were out a good five minutes before their opponents, carrying out some warm ups. This seemed to pay dividends in the 48th minute when Shephard skipped round three challenges before playing in Clarke. His shot was rising but on target until the Cambridge keeper managed to dive across and tip the ball wide. From the corner the ball was played into the middle of the goal out of reach of the keeper to Turley who powered a header in to equalise.
It looked like Salisbury had got themselves back in the game but the momentum was lost thanks to some dreadful decision making at the back. In the 61st minute a poor goalkick almost allowed Cambridge into score but the keeper redeemed himself with a good low save. A minute later another poor pass let Abbs in and he put his shot low past Smith to score. Salisbury brought on McLaggon and won a corner. New defender Hart was caught on the edge of the box as he tried to shoot and was left hobbling back into position. While he managed to head the ball clear moments later he didn't look comfortable and was left exposed as Salisbury pushed forward. Reid was brought down in the area but the referee waved play on. The keeper booted the ball upfield quickly and Hart was only able to head the ball slightly backwards, allowing Kolodynski a run on goal. He took the ball into the area, wide round Smith and hit a shot across goal and in off a post before a defender could get back to give the visitors a 3.1 lead.
After Hart was substituted to allow for some treatment, the game kicked off and Salisbury pushed forward in search of a goal. It wasn't to be their night - Shephard hit a shot just over the bar through a crowd of players from a corner, two decent penalty shouts were turned down, Clarke hit a tame shot at the keeper and just before the end McLaggon attempted a clever backheel on target but got his angle slightly out so the ball went wide. McLaggon had the last effort of the night in injury time but put the shot over. Another frustrating night for the Whites fans as defensive errors and a lack of finishing finesse cost them the 3 points.
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