Westbury did themselves proud and gave Salisbury a tough game, even though Salisbury had more possession. Westbury had more clear-cut chances, however the game was decided by an unfortunate own goal.
The game kicked off a week later than originally scheduled due to heavy downpours on the 13th December. There had been a little rain around on the 20th, but nothing that would make the Meadow Lane pitch unplayable. It started at a fast pace, Westbury looking comfortable and confident at the back, working hard in midfield and pacey upfront. Their intent was obvious when Dan Kovacs received an early yellow card for a heavy challenge when pressing the Salisbury defence.
The goal came after 22 minutes; Salisbury sent in an inswinging corner from the left, Leon Greenland at the front post got his head on to the ball, but only managed to direct it into his own net. Westbury caused panic in the Salisbury defence on the 35-minute mark. a free kick was delivered, it bounced about inside the Salisbury area for a few seconds with three shots blocked, and the third was off the line and cleared well upfield. Five minutes later Westbury created another chance. Mark Robinson was clear of his marker and round the keeper, his left foot shot was on target, but the Salisbury defender managed to recover and slide to clear the ball off the line and away to safety. The first half finished with Salisbury leading by one goal to nil.
The second half followed much of the same pattern, with both teams playing high energy football. On the hour mark Salisbury found themselves out of shape. They got caught high up the field and appealed for a back pass that never was. Grant Gunning had stepped in and tackled the ball back towards Lewis Porter in the Westbury goal, and Porter picked the ball up and played a quick pass up the field. Greenland latched onto the pass from his keeper and then passed it forward towards Ricky Hulbert. Hulbert’s powerful shot was on target, but the keeper managed to push it around the post for a corner. Another Westbury chance came when a scuffed clearance by the Salisbury keeper fell to Jordan Pinder but Pinder’s midfield marker managed to do just enough to make Pinder rush so his shot didn’t have enough power to get it past the keeper from 30 yards.
Hulbert had the chance to take the game to extra time with the last kick of the game. He was one-on-one with the keeper, but the keeper was quick off his line to smother the shot.
Overall Westbury played well, and it didn’t look like there was two divisions between the two teams. Salisbury controlled the game well, but Westbury still created a few good chances. They will go away from this game with the confidence that for spells of the game they matched arguably the best team in Wiltshire.
Team: Lewis Porter, Grant Gunning, Leon Greenland, Jake Hiscocks, Dan Price©, Dan Jordan, Jamie Jordan, Jordan Pinder, Ricky Hulbert, Dan Kovacs, Mark Robinson. Subs: Josh Ferguson, Matt Jones, Joe Kirkpatrick (used) Sean Brereton (unused). Star Man: Ricky Hulbert
Greg Coulson
