Game 32: Salisbury City 0.0 Hayes 27.03.07 (NCS)

Another midweek game - after Saturday's disappointing result I thought that the team would bounceback against lowly opposition.



Robbie Matthews created a couple of chances but the game never really got going....




... it got to the stage where looking at the ground was more interesting....



so that's what we did.



Wayne Turk had a goal disallowed in the second half for offside and the terraces emptied quickly after the game, an almost identical frustrated reaction to the game as we'd seen on Saturday.

Game 31: Salisbury City 0.0 Thurrock 17.03.07 (NCS)

It was good to see how work was progressing with the new ground works but the rest of the afternoon was frustrating as Salisbury were unable to breakdown a hardworking Thurrock team.



The strong wind meant that chalkdust was flying across the pitch - a good job that John McEnroe wasn't in the crowd! Thurrock started well and had a goal disallowed. The wind was making it difficult for Salisbury to get the ball into the box and both teams were chasing a lot of lost balls due to them being overhit.



Thurrock were quite a physical team and when Salisbury made opportunities, the Thurrock keeper made some good saves. Salisbury's best chance came on 32 minutes when Matthews ran onto a long ball and let it bounce three times before shooting, only to see it cannon off the keepers leg for a corner.



Ryan Clarke gave everyone a shock just after halftime when he missed a kick from a backpass. As the ball went past him a Thurrock striker followed it in but managed to miss an open goal as Clarke scrambled back and the ball ended up in the side netting.

Aaron Cook came close with a header just over from a Prince corner and even a Robbie Matthews freekick special found the keepers hands as he dived to the left. Right on the final whistle a Prince cross came off a defender's head and seemed to be heading for the bottom left hand corner when it bounced up and hit the post.

The frustration of not getting a win showed at the end as there were a few boos from the Whites faithful.

Game 30: Bemerton Heath Harlequins 2.4 Poole Town 03.03.07 (Wess Prem)

Originally I had planned on going to the Wess 1 game between Hythe & Dibden and US Portsmouth but the overnight rain led to concerns as to whether the game would be on. Laverstock's game was cancelled so I decided to use a voucher Andy had given me for free entry to watch Bemerton play Poole - a game that was rearranged as Bemerton's original opponents (Wimborne) were playing in the FA Vase 6th round.



The Manager's notes in the programme referred to the reverse fixture being the worst Harlequins performance of all time (they lost 4.0 and were lucky to get nil!). Bemerton started brightly and almost scored in the first minute with a close shot that the Poole keeper saved with his feet. However that was as good as it got for Bemerton in the first half. Poole started to get their game going and forced a corner of their own which was headed over. In the 10th minute, a headed flick on allowed a Poole striker a free run through and he blasted it past the keeper from the edge of the 6 yard box before the Bemerton defence could close him down.



By now Taffy Richardson and co were dominating the midfield and it was no surprise when the second goal came. This one was from a disputed penalty which the Poole striker blasted straight as the keeper dived to his left side. Despite having the lead, Poole weren't prepared to let up with the pressure - at one point Richardson called for the ball only to see one of his teammates try to flick it on and putting it out for a throw - amusingly he introduced himself to his teammate and made the point that when he says Taffy, you leave the ball for Taffy!



The game had kicked off in bright sunshine but a strong wind signalled the arrival of some menacing rainclouds and the driving rain soon lead to everyone taking cover where they could. Poole were unable to convert any of the chances they created and went in at half time 2 nil up.

As the rainclouds moved over to be replaced by sunshine, a rainbow appeared above the clubhouse. I honestly couldn't see that Bemerton could get on the scoresheet. There was little evidence of teamwork, accurate passing, vision or creativity. However on 50 minutes much to my surprise Bemerton managed to pull a goal back. A long throw from the left side into the penalty area was flicked across to an unmarked player to drill into the net at close range.



This goal seemed to unnerve Poole and Bemerton spent the next 25 minutes pushing for an equaliser. They were winning every 50/50 ball in the midfield and gambled on everything up front. Poole did manage to exploit some space on the counterattack and had a couple of shots either saved or pushed away. Bemerton almost managed to pull back an unlikely equaliser when a header was saved at close range from a long freekick that had a Poole fan enraged - he felt that the ball had been won cleanly but missed the tap on the ankle that prevented the Bemerton player from trying to win it back.

On 82 minutes, Poole won a free kick on the edge of the box and floated the ball across into the area, where the no 10 swivelled on the ball and smashed it into the net to make it 3.1. I thought that the game would be over as a spectacle how wrong I was!




The first incident came from some verbals from Tommy Killick, the Poole manager that the assistant referee overheard. The referee had given a Bemerton corner so ran over when signalled and had a discussion with Killick. That seemed to be it but a few moments later the assistant referee on the farside was flagging for the referee again. It appears that the verbals had continued and the referee decided to send him off. Being a non league ground, that constituted walking round to the stand on the other side - a walk that seemed to take Killick a while, at one point he seemed to be hiding behind the Bemerton bench.

It did seem unnecessary at 3.1 up and perhaps this lead to a lapse of concentration from his team. Bemerton's first corner was deflected behind and from the second (disputed) corner they managed to squeeze a shot past the Poole keeper to make the score 3.2 and set up an interesting last few minutes.




Poole seemed a little rattled by this turn of events while Bemerton were eager to try and get a third goal. This combination led to a unsavoury incident towards the end of the game. In an attempt to get the ball back to play a freekick, one of the Bemerton players pushed a Poole player in the face. The Poole player made the most of this and fell to the floor clutching his face. This was enough for a 21 man brawl to break out in the middle of the pitch giving the referee and his assistants a difficult job when it finally calmed down - who to send off for the push. Indeed, the protests of players and spectators that they had the wrong man was enough for the referee to reconsult his assistant again. The Bemerton player was rightly sent off for the initial offence and this handed the initiative to Poole, who scored a fourth shortly before 5pm. Poole broke forward and when the Bemerton keeper was unable to keep hold of a shot,the ball was centred to the visitor's no 10 to complete his hattrick.



Bemerton's bench were furious with the referee while one of their supporters (who had spent 5 minutes screaming obsenity after obsenity to the felled Poole player who was standing only a yard away) got involved in an argument with the Poole manager who was making his way back to the dressing room.

An entertaining game but perhaps for the wrong reasons!

Game 29: Stevenage Borough 3.0 Salisbury City 24.02.07 (FAT QF)

Having booked myself onto coach 3 before it sold out thanks to a quick lunchtime dash up to the Ray Mac I found myself in the coach park with a number of other gentlemen clutching Tesco's bags full of grub, drink etc for the journey upto Stevenage for this FA Trophy Quarter Final Tie.



The journey up to Stevenage was pretty uneventful and we got to the ground about an hour and a half before kick off. This gave us plenty of time to wander across the busy road to the bar where the FA Trophy was on display for supporters to get themselves photographed with it. After catching some of the Fulham v Man Utd game on Sky, wandered into the ground about 2.15 to take in the pre-match atmosphere. There were about 500 Whites fans in a crowd of 2,148 and most of the noise was coming from them.

Unlike last year's Quarter Final tie, we were allocated a seated end so the squeeze to try and find some space wasn't an issue. I headed over to the far side so the goal was to my right (old habits die hard!) and watched the teams warm up.



Before the game I felt that we had a good chance to get something from this tie but that feeling soon evaporated. Stevenage were playing some great one touch football on the ground and ex England International Steve Guppy was getting into some good crossing positions on the side nearest me. While the Salisbury supporters were in good song, the referee was cracking down on anything physical which suited Stevenage. Paul Sales was booked early on for putting his elbows up when trying to flick the ball on for Matt Tubbs and the Stevenage back four were mopping up anything that came near their box. However the referee did seem to be inconsistent in his decision making, favouring the home team on more than one occasion.



After a couple of early scares, Stevenage took the lead. Following a weaving run down the right wing, the ball was passed across the area and found Daryl McMahon unmarked at the edge of the area. His shot sped past Clarke into the back of the net, some saying that it had been deflected. The scoreline stayed the same to halftime although Tubbs did manage one spectacular shot it was always rising above the crossbar.



In the second half Salisbury continued to battle in vain for an equaliser. A few more chances were created but the killer pass was lacking. It reminded me of watching Salisbury play Chesham the previous season - except that day Salisbury were the ones playing ball to feet, getting into good positions and breaking with pace.

The second goal came as a result of pace - Ryan Clarke came out of his goalmouth to try and sweep up a long ball but was beaten to it. When the cross was delivered to the centre of the box it meant that Morison had an empty goal to aim out and from 6 yards he wasn't going to miss.



Robbie Matthews came on as a sub and almost immediately made a difference, his pace troubling the Stevenage team who had grown used to the high balls looking for Sales. Matt Tubbs was unlucky to see a ball cleared off the line from short range with a spectacular overhead kick.



The referee had shown that he was not going to allow the Salisbury players to make challenges that he felt were dangerous or to discuss the unpunished dangerous Stevenage tackles without granting a yellow card so when Matthews broke through the defence on the left but was given offside, it wasn't a surprise that he was given a yellow card for kicking the ball away. However moments later when he won a header in the box, the referee seemed to be indicating that any more contentious challenges and he would be off. That didn't sink in with Robbie and when he slid in for a 50/50 challenge from behind a Stevenage defender you could almost see the smile on the referees face as he ran towards him at full pace brandishing a yellow then red card.

At the time I was furious with the referee, possibly the most angry I've been at a non-league game since last season's FA Trophy game at Exeter. On reflection, perhaps the Salisbury players didn't adapt to the style of a "Fast Track - tick all the boxes in assessments apart from common sense" referee because they don't see that kind of refereeing week in week out. Mr Ward is already running the line in Premiership games but didn't seem to get into good positions to see challenges that ended up unpunished. Perhaps he was already thinking of his trip to Cardiff for the 5th official role at the League Cup final the next day....



The decision wound up many supporters around me, who were well placed to see the challenge. Some of them spilled down to the front of the stand and for a moment it looked as if there might be some trouble. It also wound up the Salisbury bench and Tommy Widdrington was banished to the stands for expressing his view - probably a few too many expletives for the referee.



Stevenage made the most of the man advantage and wrapped up the win in the 90th minute. Ryan Clarke made two superb saves at close range but couldn't keep the third shot out after his save for the second came back off the crossbar. Stevenage certainly deserved to win the game but the scoreline did flatter them in the end. Unlike last year, the defeat wasn't caused by a poor referee but you have to wonder what the result would have been if the referee had been consistent in his decision making.

Game 28: Salisbury City 1.1 Dorchester Town 20.02.07 (NCS)

A local derby under floodlights - you can't beat that for atmosphere and with the ground improvement works continuing, the far left corner of the stand behind the goal was reserved for visiting fans. They showed their appreciation by covering the area with balloons and the pitch in front with the entire contents of a Tesco Value megapack of toilet rolls before the game.



Looking at the programme, it appeared that Salisbury hadn't won for some time against Dorchester in a competitive game and sadly that fact still stands. While Salisbury started well, the main talking point was Matt Tubbs receiving a straight red card for a tackle after 30 minutes.



Tubbs had created the first goal, his 14th minute shot being parried up in the air by the keeper allowing Paul Sales to head into an empty net. This silenced the cries of "Magpie Reject" for a few minutes but it appeared that Tubbs was driven on by the chance to put one over his old team. On the half hour mark he went flying in for a tackle on the halfway line when it wasn't really necessary and caught the Dorchester player with a tackle from behind that the referee decided was dangerous. As it was his 4th red card this season, he no doubt earnt himself a rollicking from the management to go with his 6 match ban.



Salisbury managed to survive until the 78th minute without conceding, playing some good counterattacking football, Matthews replacing Sales earlier than normal to give the defence a mobile outlet. Dorchester thought they had scored earlier in the 2nd half but the assistant ref already had his flag in the air much to the annoyance of the Dorchester drinkers. However in the 78th minute, the ball came across from the left wing and David Town hit an exceptionally sweet shot straight into the back of the net. Despite being 30 yards out, the power and pace left Ryan Clarke no chance.



Salisbury created two good chances later on and both Bartlett and Matthews put shots agonisingly wide from positions on the far right of the box in the last 5 minutes. The draw was enough to put Salisbury top of the table but it would have a win if 11 men had stayed on the pitch.

Game 27: Salisbury City 2.1 Bognor Regis Town 10.02.07 (NCS)

A wet day at the Ray Mac - there was a late pitch inpection in the morning and the weather remained dry until I left for the ground at 2.30, when it started to chuck it down. Arrived at the ground and managed to get a parking spot just outside the turnstiles on the hardstanding.




Salisbury started the game brightly and the Bognor keeper made a spectacular flying save in the third minute to keep a Scott Bartlett header out. Both teams were trying to play a passing game but the downpour made playing conditions difficult. Salisbury had the most of the play but found it difficult to break down the Bognor defence.



Probably the biggest cheer of the first half came from a crossfield pass that hit the referee's feet, causing him to trip up and fall face first into the mud. With the far side out of bounds due to the ground improvement works, the stewards allowed the Bognor fans round the ground to stand behind the goal. I'm sure it's the first time that Scooby Doo, Lou from Little Britain, Homer Simpson and Superman amongst others have been in the away end!



Salisbury continued to pressure in the second half and the goal finally came on 64 minutes. Luke Prince sent in another cross from the left and Aaron Cook rose up to plant a looping header over the keeper. After seeing it go in, he span around and headed to the halfway line with a Channonesque windmill arm celebration.



However this spurred Bognor on and suddenly Salisbury found themselves under pressure. After a couple of corners a clearance found Ben Watson on the right side, he sent a cross in that missed everyone in the middle but curved towards the goal, deceiving Ryan Clarke on it's way to the back of the net.



Both teams continued to press for a winner but it looked as if the game was going to finish as a draw. Late into injury time, the referee pulled back play on the edge of the box after a foul didn't leave Salisbury with an advantage. Robbie Matthews stepped up and blasted the ball round the wall, past the keeper's outstretched hand and into the bottom left corner of the net - cue delirious celebrations on the eve of Salisbury's 60th anniversary.

Game 26: Salisbury City 2.1 VTFC 06.02.07 (Friendly)

With the lack of regular reserve team games, this game was arranged at short notice to assist with Tommy Widdrington's recovery from a dislocated knee.



Both teams fielded a mix of first team and reserve team players. On the VTFC team I recognised ex-White Tyronne Bowers and former Eastleigh player Ryan Ashford while Salisbury's team included Declan McGregor, Simon Browne, Alex Haddow and Matt Holmes.



Salisbury opened the scoring with a Nick Eastham header but VTFC broke down the right side and the ball broke to Bowers to slot in a shot from close range into an empty net. Tommy was replaced with a trialist after 40 minutes, looking a bit tired but none the worse for wear.



Alex Haddow scored with a tremendous volley from outside the area to make it 2.1 just before halftime. The second half was a disjointed affair and neither team really did much in front of goal so the score remained 2.1 at full time.

Game 25: Salisbury City 2.0 Cambridge City 23.01.07 (NCS)

An evening kick off saw Salisbury maintain their unbeaten start to 2007. Went to the game with Andy but decided to brave the cold and head to the sidelines rather than the warmth of the main stand to get a better view of the Salisbury attack and to attempt some night time photography.



Wayne Turk put Salisbury ahead on 35 minutes with a shot from the outside the box that took a slight deflection which was just enough to beat the keeper. By this point my hands were freezing so it was good to warm them up with applause. Cambridge were playing well and created a few chances before the Salisbury goal but lacked the final touch.



As half time approached I wandered round to the far side and got a cup of warm tomato soup to try and thaw out my hands and my insides.



For the second half, I moved back to the main stand but the promise of some soup wasn't enough to lure Andy from the right side to the left side where I was standing in plenty of space.



The main talking point of the game was the sending off of the Cambridge keeper midway through the second half for felling Tubbs in the box as Tubbs went round him on the left hand edge. From my viewpoint it looked as if Tubbs played for the penalty by pushing the ball past the keeper and waiting to be knocked rather than try and stay on his feet and score - any touch was marginal but the referee decided it was stopping a goal scoring opportunity.

Tubbs stepped up to take the penalty but the mind tricks he tried to use on the substitute keeper backfired as he hit it the wrong side of the left hand post. Indeed it appeared as if the new keeper was much better than the original keeper as he made 2-3 tremendous stretching saves.

Alas the good work was undone in the final minute. Deciding to risk it and gamble on getting a draw, the keeper went up for a late corner but was caught out of position when the ball was intercepted by Robbie Matthews. Then followed one of the best goals of the season. Matthews, urged on by the crowd, started to run towards the goal but decided to ignore the crowd and keep on running rather than shoot from distance. As the keeper and numerous defenders tried to catch him, he managed to outpace all of them and brought the ball into the penalty area before blasting it into the empty net. It looked like a scene from a Benny Hill show as one defender collapsed with a muscle problem and the keeper tried to stretch out in the penalty area to grab the ball.

A goal that will live in the memory banks for years!

Game 24: Eastleigh 0.1 Salisbury City 20.01.07 (NCS)

A late departure from Salisbury, met up with Andy in the Boathouse where he was waiting upon a sausage and bacon sarnie. Once it had been polished off (c 1.45) we drove to Eastleigh via Rob's and joined the multitude parking in the rugby ground. I was concerned as to whether there would be any programmes left but managed to get one after a brisk walk to the ground.



Salisbury took the lead on 10 minutes from a Paul Sales header that looked as if it went into the bottom corner in slow motion - the reason for this was apparent later - the ball had hit the post, rebounded to a defenders leg and had gone in off the defender. Despite this debating point, the goal was attributed to Sales.



The game progressed as many derby games do - lots of effort, some good chances squandered for both teams and some heartstopping moments when it looks like the opposition have scored. Salisbury were lucky just before half time when an Eastleigh player miscued a shot and put it over the bar when it looked easier to score. Jon Bass had an excellent shot saved and with 5 minutes to go Robbie Matthews rose above the keeper and defence to put a header past them but unfortunately on to the bar. The rebound came out to Matt Tubbs but with an empty goal in front of him he scuffed his shot wide from the edge of the 6 yard box. The next 5 minutes seemed to go on for ever before the referee finally blew the whistle.



As the whistle blew, the play was just in front of us and my applause for the Whites performance seemed to annoy Eastleigh's Tarkan Mustafa who picked the ball up and then dummied to throw it at me like a basketball player. Shame to see someone I used to enjoy watching at Kingstonian act like a spoilt brat, especially as the applause was for the Salisbury players he was stood next to and I hadn't said a word to him at that point.

We wandered past the groups of 'youth fans' who seemed to be spoiling for a fight and got back to the car just before it started to pelt it down with rain. A good day out and a record crowd at the Sparshatts of 1426 to see the third Salisbury 1.0 win over Eastleigh this season.

Game 23: Salisbury City 4.0 Yeading 09.01.07 (NCS)

A cold, damp night up at the Ray Mac thanks to a strong wind coming off the Plain. 621 fans braved the conditions to watch Salisbury make all the running in the game with Paul Sales and Robbie Matthews combining well on 7 minutes with a 1-2 putting Sales in to score.



Yeading had a couple of shots but very little to trouble Ryan Clarke, although he almost lost the ball to a Yeading player when coming out for a ball - fortunately he managed to scoop it into the crowd.

Salisbury added a second on 28 minutes when Matthews won the ball back when an attack broke down and played a 1.2 with Sales before banging the ball into the back of the net. Clarke had to make another save from close range when he dropped the ball from a Yeading freekick into the path of their striker - he just managed to get his arm behind the ball as the Yeading player hit it and it went out for a corner.



In the second half the swirling wind and rain looked like a sandstorm caught in the floodlights. Prince was having a good game while Sales was in his element holding the ball up and bringing other players into the game. It looked like Prince had won a penalty when he was brought down in the box but the referee was having none of it and waved play on.

Matthews added a third on 61 minutes, blasting the ball past the keeper following a header before Bartlett hit a scooping shot into the net 3 minutes later - sadly I missed the moment as I was texting Alan and looked up to see the ball was in the net as the crowd showed it's approval.

Andy had a golden goal ticket for 74 minutes - although he didn't open it until the 80th minute!