Match Report: Salisbury 2 – 1 Basingstoke Town – Easter Monday 1st April 2024

Southern League Premier South Division – Easter Monday 1st April 2024
Salisbury 2 v 1 Basingstoke Town Attendance – 1,383
Where: Raymond McEnhill Stadium, Old Sarum Salisbury , Wilts. SP4 6PU
Dan Brownlie’s line-up saw a number of changes for this game: 1. Simon Grant, 2. Curtis Angell, 3. Massimo Giamattei, 4. Elliott Bolton, 5. Shane Hollamby, 6. Billy Upton, 7. Bradley Wilson, 8. Paul Hodges, 9. Stefan Brown, 10. Shamar Moore, 11. Luis Le Paih
On the bench: Liam Ferdinand, Dan Rowe, Simon Dunn, Joe Redmond & James Clark
Referee – Charlie Bullock

An expected bumper crowd for the visit of Basingstoke Town to Salisbury for this Easter Monday match-up, saw the game get underway with Stoke attacking the covered terraced end in the first half, but it was the homeside who failed to take the lead in the fifth minute, as Simon Grant, pulled off a great safe, with two further blocks on the line, within the space of ten seconds.

Stoke then had two minutes of play in and around Salisbury’s penalty area, but failed to put anything of note on the Salisbury keeper.
Shane Hollamby & then Billy Upton make timely tackles to stop two further Salisbury attacks.

With fifteen minutes gone we attacked through Paul Hodges who neatly slipped the ball through to Bradley Wilson, who forced the Salisbury keeper, to knock the ball out for a corner on the left. The corner was initially cleared, to the edge of the penalty area, where a further shot, looked to be going in, until the keeper stuck out a leg, forcing the ball out for a further corner. The Elliott Bolton corner was met by Stefan Brown who directed his header from six yards into the net GOAL! Salisbury 0 – 1 Basingstoke Town (S. Brown 16 mins)

Stoke then pushed forward over the next few minutes looking to double their lead, until the referee suddenly stopped the game on twenty minutes, as Salisbury stewards attempted to move the large Stoke following behind the goal. It was not until the twenty-eighth minute did the game get restarted.

The stoppage seems to have upset the flow of our game, as Salisbury push forward with ten minutes to go to the break, as a Salisbury forward missed an absolute sitter from three yards out.
Then with just two minutes to go, Salisbury missed a further clear-cut chance, only for the referee to mysteriously award Salisbury a penalty. A minute later the penalty was converted. Salisbury 1-1 Basingstoke

The game was then held up for a further few minutes as Shane Hollamby received treatment, before being replaced by James Clark in the sixth minute of added-time.
The referee then restarted the game, only for him to blow the halftime whistle two minutes later.

Halftime Score: Salisbury 1 v 1 Basingstoke Town
The second-half got underway, with Salisbury looking the stronger, helped by some further strange refereeing decisions.

Stoke were forced into their second change as Shamar Moore picked up an injury, and was replaced by Dan Rowe (59 mins).
Stoke then hit the foot of the post from a shot, which rebounded to Wilson, but his shot was blocked two yards out from the line.

Salisbury were now the team on top, but Stoke’s defence was still holding firm as we moved into the last fifteen minutes of the game.

Hodges who had worked tirelessly, despite taking some heavy knocks, then got a ball to the face which delayed the game once more.

Unfortunately, this was not to last, as with ten minutes, across from the right , was swept home past Grant in goal. Salisbury 2-1 Basingstoke.

Stoke were then forced into their third change as an injured James Clark was replaced by Liam Ferdinand (81 mins)
Ferdinand’s first involvement was a tame shot at the keeper after being sent through by Stefan Brown.

Salisbury pushed for a third, as we moved into another extended amount of added-time, and one further chance fell to Stoke, as Ferdinand received the ball inside the Salisbury penalty area then slipped the ball to Hodges, who was able to cut the ball back from the byline to Rowe, but failed to make the right connection, allowing their keeper to once again to save with his feet, as the ball rebounded to Upton, now playing up front, but his shot was blocked, and the chance for a point went.

The referee played the ten minutes of added-time, before blowing the final whistle, on a game that was affected by the referee.

Full-time Score: Salisbury 2 v 1 Basingstoke Town
Coppin 44 (pen) & 81 mins           S. Brown 16 mins

Match Thought’s
A pitifully weak referee ruined the game today, as the unnecessary delay clearly affected our play, as we were the team clearly on top at that time. The stewarding again was poor, clearly affected by their club officials.
The game did lack the real entertainment deserved of the bumper crowd, but a number of Stoke players left everything on the pitch, as our unbeaten run came to an end.

Up Next:
We return back home to Winklebury to take on rivals Bracknell next Saturday.
Match Report by Martin French..