Game 10: Bemerton Heath Harlequins 3.0 Shortwood United (FA Vase) 04.10.08

After two enjoyable games in the FA Vase this season, decided to go to the game at Bemerton Heath this afternoon. The bright sunshine of last week's game had turned into a grey, overcast day and as I left the house it started to rain. By the time I arrived at the ground 10 minutes later it was pouring down.

Shortwood had earnt an FA Cup replay after an excellent result against Conference South Havant last weekend and that midweek game almost went to extra time, with Shortwood missing a penalty in the last minute. With that in mind, I expected Bemerton to be the underdogs but that turned out to be a mistake!

Bemerton took the lead on 5 minutes with a Sanger header that looked to be heading over the crossbar but looped down over the keeper and into the net. 4 minutes later they had a great chance to make it two nil from the penalty spot. One of the Shortwood players pushed into a Bemerton striker in the box as both players ran towards the corner flag chasing a ball and the referee felt that this was a foul. Sanger took the penalty and put it wide of the keeper's dive to the right but the ball hit the post and bounced back out again to be cleared to safety. A couple of the locals weren't expecting him to take the penalty and probably wished he hadn't!



As the first half went on, the referee gave a number of freekicks when perhaps an advantage could have been played or where there didn't appear to have been a foul. This led to a stop-start game and neither team were able to take advantage of the chances they had. Bemerton had another chance to claim a penalty when Sanger was hacked down in the box but to everyone's surprise the referee waived play on.

In the 35th minute Bemerton were reduced to 10 men temporarily as one of the team was getting attention from the physio off the pitch following a heavy tackle. As Bemerton cleared the ball from their penalty area, two more players were felled by similar tackles. With the numerical advantage now 3, the referee decided to blow the whistle and allow the physios to come on to the pitch, followed by a dropball.


By halftime the wind had really picked up and Bemerton had the advantage of playing out of the wind in the second half. They made excellent use of this in the 47th minute when they took the ball down the left hand side to the touchline, put in a low cross that evaded the oncoming defenders to find two Bemerton players in the box. I thought that they might get into each other's way but to their credit, only one player went for the shot and it ended up in the back of the net.

Shortwood looked to be running out of ideas after going two goals down and it was not a surprise when they brought on a very tall sub in the 60th minute. His first job was to take a thrown in on the nearside - the crowd thought that he might be better placed in the box until they saw how long he could throw the ball! Even with the wind against him, the ball was propelled into the six yard box and Bemerton were lucky that the scramble that followed saw a near post shot go wide. Shortwood now created some good moves but their passing and shooting in the final third was not good enough to get them a clear scoring chance.

As Shortwood pushed forward, Bemerton were able to exploit some space at the back. A great pass from the halfway sideline found one of their strikers who hit a shot low across the grass from the edge of the area. It looked like the goalkeeper was going to save it easily but somehow it skidded along the wet turf and underneath his falling body, losing some momentum but making it to the back of the net for 3.0. The final fifteen minutes went by very quickly and Bemerton were through to the next round of the Vase.

Walking out I checked my raffle tickets against the board - I was 1 number out from winning the main prize! Hopefully Bemerton will be luckier in Tuesday's draw!

Game 9: Salisbury City 2.3 Mansfield Town (Blue Square Premier) 27.09.08

All the pre-match build up for this game focused on the announcement during the week that Salisbury were asking their supporters to raise £100,000 to avoid the club having to make budget cuts. The chairman took the pitch before the game to stress that the club wasn’t in financial crisis yet but they wanted to do something to prevent future problems.

As the weather was warm and sunny, decided to watch the game from the side of the main stand rather than my usual vantage point behind the goal. Salisbury took the lead after 11 minutes, Sandell striking a low shot after a cross from Feeney found Herring on the back post. He headed it back for Sandell to score from six yards.

Mansfield had a lot of possession but were unable to make the most of some good approach play. Bittner in the Salisbury goal lead a charmed life, especially when coming out for corners and missing the ball – on both occasions a Mansfield player was unable to get to the ball in time to create a scoring chance.

In the second half Mansfield changed their formation to 4-3-3 and put more pressure on the Salisbury backline, especially down the left side. The equaliser came on 57 minutes when Scott Bartlett put in a strong challenge only to see the ball spin into the net out of Bittner’s reach. From my view point the ball almost seemed to be travelling in slow motion towards the goal.

Mansfield forced a corner a minute later which was cleared to Liam Feeney. He used his pace to sprint down the field and having outpaced his team mates, took the ball around Silk and hit an unstoppable shot past the Mansfield keeper from the edge of the area to put Salisbury 2.1 up

The goals didn’t stop there – four minutes later Mansfield took the ball down the left side and ex-league journeyman Mark Stallard was on hand to sweep the ball in from close range for the equaliser. Seven minutes later it was 3.2 to Mansfield – a Mansfield player controlled a through ball and slipped a pass into the box to a team mate who hit a low shot past Bittner.

Salisbury put Matthews and Griffin on to try and get back in the game. Griffin had the best chance to equalise, heading wide when he should have got it at least on target. An exciting second half but sadly not the right result for the Whites.

Game 8: Farnborough North End 0.2 Bemerton Heath Harlequins (FA Vase) 20.09.08

Decided to take the train to Farnborough and walk to North End's ground which looked like a reasonable hour's stroll from the station from the maps I printed off Google and the club's website. It was a nice sunny day but about half an hour in I found myself scratching my head trying to work out where the ground was as the recommended road was now closed and turfed over. A car pulled over and I was asked if I knew where the ground was. It was three of Bemerton's commitee men and after comparing notes, they kindly offered me a lift to the ground. Luckily for us a sign appeared at a nearby roundabout that guided us through a maze of roads to the ground. I think it would have taken me another 10 minutes to find that sign and probably another 30 minutes to navigate the maze of roads so the lift was much appreciated.

When we arrived at the ground, the Farnborough players had finished warming up and were posing for their official club photo before disappearing to the changing rooms adjacent to the pitch for some last minute instructions. Before the game, both sets of players shook hands as part of the FA Respect campaign. Bemerton were wearing their change kit of orange with Ian Chalk's company logo - I'm sure Alan would be queuing up to buy one of these garments.

Bemerton started brightly and made a few chances but their corners and free-kicks lacked purpose and poor delivery let them down. The best of their chances were a header straight to the keeper and a shot that struck the side netting.

Farnborough had a couple of pacy strikers and made some good breakaway chances. They should have taken the lead on the 37th minute when a cross found an unmarked player in the box. With the goal at his mercy he headed down into the ground, wide of both the post and his oncoming teammate's boot sliding in to try and get to it. Two minutes later Bemerton had a decent penalty shout - Joe Sanger ran across the keeper with the ball and was tripped up but the referee didn't agree that the keeper had made contact.

Farnborough started the second half well. An early cross looked promising but managed to evade everyone in the box. In the 49th minute they came close to scoring - a long ball was headed backwards, over the keeper and onto the crossbar.

These close misses galvanized Bemerton. From a throw in just in front of me, the ball was played into the box and won by a Bemerton player who carefully chipped the ball past the keeper and into the net.

Four minutes later and Bemerton doubled their lead with a diving header connecting with a cross with pace to make it 2.0. I wasn't sure that the try and remove my shorts celebration would catch on mind!

The home side didn't give up hope and on 80 minutes had a glorious chance to get a goal back. Their no 9 was lucky to be on the pitch after asking the referee to book a Bemerton player and then pushing the referee when it wasn't given. He took the ball in the area, turned and hit a shot against the post. He had another chance right on 90 minutes but shot wide. While Farnborough would rue their early miss, Bemerton were through to the first round proper.

Game 7: Downton 1.4 Westbury United (FA Vase) 06.09.08

Andy and I drove out to Downton for this FA Vase tie and my first "non – Salisbury" game of the season. Downton have been struggling in the league since their relegation from the Wessex Premier but had won a couple of cup games.

Westbury had the first chance of the game after 12 minutes. They had to make an early substitution due to an injury and their sub went one on one with the Downton keeper who made a smart save. While Downton had a couple of chances in the first half, notably an "accidental" save by the Westbury keeper when a header from a free kick was headed against his legs, Westbury were looking more dangerous with several of their shots either going over the bar or saved by the Downton keeper.


Andy and I watched the first half from the sideline by the clubhouse and as time went on, the clouds got darker and darker. After the disappointment of finding out the clubhouse wasn’t serving at halftime, Andy agreed to move into the main stand for the second half before the expected rain started to fall.


Downton had two good shouts for a penalty turned down by the referee. The first one was for a shove on a player which could have gone either way but the second should have been awarded when their striker was hacked down in the box. To everyone’s surprise, the referee didn’t see or hear the tackle and this was too much for one of the Downton players. He made a comment to the referee as he went past him, calling him a disgrace, so earnt a second yellow card.

This put Downton at an immediate disadvantage and Westbury made the most of their extra man. A couple of minutes later, the ball was crossed in from the left and headed in to put Westbury one up. On way back to halfway line something else must have been said to the referee as he brandished his red card again to the Downton no 2 – this time a straight red card.It was hard to tell what it had been given for and some of the crowd seemed in shock as the rain started to fall.

On 65 minutes Westbury added to their lead, as a long shot skidded past the keeper an in. 5 minutes later it was 3.0 – a shot from the left hit the post and bounced straight out to a Westbury player on the right hand side of the box, who smashed it into an empty net.
Andy and I started to speculate that this could be similar to a game we saw at Stockbridge a couple of years ago, where a double sending off led to a glut of late goals.

However Westbury decided to play catch up in the red card stakes – with 10 minutes to go one of their defenders pushed a Downton player in the face in retaliation after he was pushed near the goal line when trying to let the ball go out for a free kick. This reaction gave the referee no option but to send him off – the original offence by the Downton player only earning a yellow card.

Downton grabbed a consolation goal a couple of minutes later. A cross from the left was headed hard down into the ground and bounced up, past the keeper and into the roof of the net. This wound up one of the Westbury supporters who was ranting as his team for not being able to keep the ball in the Downton half.

These words may have inspired Westbury as on 85 minutes they scored again in a similar fashion – a cross came into the centre and a substitute beat the keeper to the ball and headed in. An eventful and enjoyable second half from a neutral point of view!

Game 6: Salisbury City 1.0 Weymouth (Blue Square Premier) 02.09.08

After a fortnight in the USA (including a visit to the impressive Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, where bizarrely hockey’s Stanley Cup was on display), it was good to be back home to watch some football.


Having missed the 4.1 defeat against Wrexham on Saturday, I was hoping for a better result against local rivals Weymouth. Sadly the bright sunshine of the weekend didn’t last and as we arrived at the ground it started to pour with rain.


Salisbury started the game well with a Matt Tubbs shot just wide after 5 minutes. There wasn’t a great deal of action after that which allowed Andy, Pete and I to catch up on events on both sides of the Atlantic. Other than Sandell putting a header just wide there was very little to write about in the first half.


The second half was a different story – both teams decided that this was a game that they could win. Salisbury forced a couple of corners and Weymouth had a breakaway attack that Bittner managed to deal with by diving at the feet of the striker. On 55 minutes the goal came – Salisbury won a throw in on the left side which Scott Bartlett sent into the penalty area. The ball was headed on and following a goalmouth scramble, Weymouth’s clearance fell to Liam Feeney who blasted it in from close range.


Weymouth put Salisbury under some pressure to try and get back in the game - one shot was just over the top of the goal and Matt Robinson made a good last ditch tackle to prevent another shot from hitting the target. It was Feeney who set up Salisbury’s next chance – after he was brought down on the edge of the box, Matt Tubbs hit a freekick just wide. Sandell also had a good chance – one on one with the keeper he managed to place a shot just wide of the post. I was worried that Weymouth would capitalise on these missed chances and they had a good opportunity when a header was placed just wide after a good run.


Feeney’s pace continued to cause problems and he put a great ball into the box towards substitute Charlie Griffin – only for Griffin to head it wide. Mike Fowler had a good shot just wide shortly after that and towards the end of the game, Scott Bartlett put the ball into the side netting when it looked easier to score.


As we approached full time it was heart in the mouth time again –a ball was crossed towards former Didcot striker Stuart Bevon but luckily Aaron Cook was on hand to block his shot and put it wide. Salisbury held on for a 1.0 win but Weymouth would have been disappointed not to get something from their second half performance.

Game 5: Salisbury City 0.1 Burton Albion (Blue Square Premier) 09.08.08

Normally the opening game of the season is a day for tshirts and sun tan lotion but today's weather saw raincoats the order of the day. Pete and I wandered over from the industrial estate in pouring rain and strong winds to join the queue to get into the ground. The weather seemed to match the mood of the supporters during the game - no real buzz of excitement about the start of the second season in the Blue Square Premier.

Before kickoff there was a one minute silence in the memory of Ernie Cooksey, a Grays Athletic player who passed away from cancer during the summer.

Burton started well and scored after 2 minutes. The Salisbury defence conceded a sloppy corner and failed to defend it - the ball came in from the left side to the far corner where it was headed back to Greg Pearson to hit the ball home unchallenged from 3 yards.

After 12 minutes it was almost 2.0, Matt Robinson putting the ball just past his own post when clearing a ball - heart in the mouth stuff! Burton's veteran keeper Kevin Poole had a couple of saves to make but nothing too testing. Most of the time the ball was being crossed into the area with the hope that the wind might take it into the net. Salisbury had a shout for a penalty turned down - from the distance we were at it was hard to tell whether it had hit a hand or not but the referee waved play on.

Jody Banim then missed a glorious chance to make the game 2.0 to Burton. Cook messed up a back header towards Bittner and the ball didn't have enough pace on it to make it back to the keeper. Banim tried to chip Bittner but the keeper was able to push the ball back out - Banim then tried a low shot which Bittner was able to save. Burton continued to put the pressure on Salisbury - from a corner Bittner spilt the ball but was able to shepherd Banim to the side of the box, allowing the defence to cover behind him. Salisbury's best chance came on 40 minutes from a Feeney cross to Clarke, whose header Poole saved with ease.

Salisbury were attacking towards the In-Excess Stand in the second half and almost equalised within the first minute. Feeney put a shot wide and a minute later crept onto a cross at close range - the shot was heading towards the goal until Poole pushed it over the bar. The game seemed to drag after that - Salisbury weren't producing a killer touch and Tubbs was very quiet - apart from a late penalty shout for a barge on the edge of the box he didn't really trouble the Burton defence. The weather conditions didn't help either team as passes and crosses zipped off the wet surface or got carried wide by the wind. Burton were able to waste a lot of time by the strange decision not to use ballboys around the pitch to get the ball back into play sooner. The referee added on 5 minutes injury time but the majority of the 1,122 spectators were resigned to an opening day Salisbury defeat.

Game 4: Salisbury City 3.1 Bristol Rovers (Friendly) 05.08.08

Alan took the train up from Portsmouth (eventually, after some signalling problems) to join me at this game - almost a year since we went up to Droylesden for the opening game of the 2007-8 season.

We arrived in plenty of time and were treated to an early goal from Matt Tubbs after 2 minutes. He ran through the Rovers defence but appeared to have overhit the ball towards the keeper. Luckily the keeper didn't react in time and Tubbs controlled it and placed a low shot into the back of the net. Salisbury continued to put some pressure on the visitors goal and on 10 minutes Andy Sandell almost doubled the lead. He took the ball around the keeper on the edge of the six yard box but was forced wide and his cross was cleared for a corner.

It took 32 minutes for Rovers to create a decent chance - a shot that was deflected wide for a corner. The next 5 minutes was all Rovers - Bittner made a save at the near post from a chest high shot on 34 mins, watched a shot go across the goal and wide from the right hand side on 37 minutes and saw another shot just over the post on 38 minutes.

Despite this spell of pressure, Salisbury added a second goal just before half time. A cross came in from the left hand side and Sandell poked it into the net from close range. It was a well deserved goal even if it came against the run of play as Salisbury had made the best chances throughout the half.

The second half also began with a Salisbury chance but it wasn't taken, much to the annoyance of the majority of the 641 crowd. Robbie Matthews was one of four halftime subs and took the ball towards the goal, only to check back onto his right foot and hit a shot over the bar. The Salisbury team showed some individual moments of skill - Feeney nutmegged a defender at pace along the right hand touchline while Davis succeeded with an overhead kick in the penalty area from a deep cross.
Matthews was getting more into this game then others - balls were being played through the channels to allow him to run on, rather than to his head to try and hold up. After 62 minutes he ran through the defence to the bye-line and put a cross along the 6 yard line but no-one was able to add the final touch and score.

Bristol Rovers made a couple of chances and won a penalty on 75 minutes. Bittner went the right way but the shot was too well struck and ended up curling into the right side of the side netting. Salisbury were determined not to let them equalise - Feeney and Davis worked well to get a cross into the box but Dutton put his shot wide. Most of the play was in the half in front of us and it was no surprise when Salisbury added a third goal on 87 minutes. Sandell turned provider and put a cross in for Matthews to smash in from 3 yards out.

An entertaining game with lots of chances for the home team - hopefully a good sign for the start of the season on Saturday.

Game 3: AFC Wimbledon 1.2 Salisbury City (Friendly) 26.07.08

As Amy was working in London today, decided to revisit Kingsmeadow to watch this friendly. The last game I saw here was back in the last century when Yeovil were playing Kingstonian in a Conference game. Since then the ground has been sold to AFC and a new stand has been built behind one goal, with an extention being added to the stand at the side. Decided to watch the game from the shallow terrace where I used to watch games when I was a local.

Salisbury started well and Matt Tubbs hit the crossbar from no more than a yard out after 5 minutes. Salisbury had the better of the first half but it was the Dons who took the lead after 36 minutes. The ball was played from the halfway line into his path and despite the offside protests from the Salisbury players, the striker was allowed to continue his run and carefully passed the ball into the bottom far corner before the defence could react. This encouraged the Dons, especially their pacy no 11 who was giving Scott Bartlett a difficult time down the right hand side.



At halftime it was good to see the traditional swapping of ends again as the Salisbury fans moved behind the goal nearest me. The music was entertaining as well - a version of Pulp's Common People sung by Star Trek's own William Shatner was the highlight for me.

In the second half Salisbury put more pressure on and it was no surprise when Andy Sandell scored the equaliser from a corner - a powerful header from 6 yards out. He was substituted shortly afterwards and it looked like he twisted his ankle when landing for a header. The Dons keeper also had a problem with an injury and goalkicks were taken by a defender instead.

AFC Wimbledon came back into the game and were really unlucky not to score with a rising shot that smacked off the crossbar and out. Salisbury then broke away and following a neat pass and move, Darrell Clarke scored the winner with a volley in the box past the keeper.

The game then lost it's edge with a number of substitutions from both sides. Jon Davies and Danny Young played 20 minutes or so and both looked fairly lively. A good workout for the Salisbury team and it was great to see a win for the Whites at last!