By Pete Martin
Salisbury progressed to the 2nd qualifying round of the FA Cup with a second win in 5 days at Poole Town; this time by 2 goals to nil.
The teamsheet for the Whites saw 2 changes from Monday’s league win; Ethan Sutcliffe and Marvin Brooks replacing Dinesh Gillela and Brandon Goodship.
It was Poole who got off to the stronger start and they were the first to threaten with fullback Dec Rose coming forward but his shot was placed wide of the goal from distance. The closest Salisbury came inside the opening 15 mins was a dangerous ball in from Charlie Davis that home defender Will Spetch narrowly cleared behind for a corner. The game’s opening goal arrived after 18 minutes and it came via centre-half Sam Roberts. A free kick was conceded on the left by Poole’s Josh Carmichael and when Charlie Davis whipped the ball into the box, the home defence was static and Roberts was on hand to poke the ball home to give the White’s the lead. Poole could have bounced back just 4 minutes later but Gerard Benfield made a good save with his body to deny Jake Andrews after a long ball forward from Spetch and the home team were probably the more dominant side for the remainder of the half. The Whites again had Benfield to thank for keeping them in the lead on 36 minutes as he saved from former White’s striker Toby Holmes and just 2 minutes later the home fans were incensed not to receive a penalty with Benfield adjudged to have got the ball when Andrews burst through into the box. Despite the home side seeing more of the ball they were unable to head into the half time interval level with Salisbury taking advantage of their only real chance although they did lose defender Josh Sommerton to what looked like a hamstring injury just prior to the break.
The start of the second half saw Poole continue to dominate the possession but Salisbury held firm and on 53 minutes they could have doubled the lead only for home keeper Luke Cairney to deny Sam Ashton when he burst through the defence. With some resolute defending from the Whites and Poole unable to take advantage of their possession dominance, the game was getting very stop-start and playing perfectly into the hands of the White who, despite not creating anything clearcut, always looked dangerous on the break and thus it proved when they doubled their lead on 85 mins. A long goal kick from Benfield evaded everyone and allowed Ashton to race beyond the defence and lift the ball over Cairney to nestle into the net and seal the win. Poole continued to push to get back into the game and only some last-ditch defending, led superbly by Sam Roberts, prevented a goal-mouth scramble in time added on from making for a nervous last couple of minutes but as it was Salisbury saw the game out well to seal their spot in the next round.
The draw for the 2nd Qualifying round takes place Monday at 1 pm and the Whites are back on the road next Saturday when they travel to Gosport Borough in the league.
Team: Benfield, Davis, Sommerton(Ashton), Roberts, Sutcliffe, Wakefield, Mullings, Arnold, Diaz, Brooks M(Fox), Thomson(Fitchett)
Unused Subs: Gunston-Gray
