Eastleigh 0-1 Salisbury
EASTLEIGH V SALISBURY CITY
SATURDAY 20th JANUARY 2007
Conference South
It was third time unlucky today for the Spitfires against local rivals Salisbury and there were no surprises over the match winner. Paul Sales came back to haunt his former club for a second time following his scissor kick that led to Eastleigh’s exit from the FA Cup back in October. It was Sales’ 9th minute header that proved to be the only goal of the game and was more than enough to see the Whites through to their third victory of the season against Jason Dodd’s side.
There was very little to cheer about in what was Eastleigh’s first game back since New Year’s Day, and the two weeks without a match clearly took its toll on the Spitfires taking the momentum right out of their recent run of form.
From the off, it was clear that Salisbury had the upper hand, this being made all the more easier with the fact that Eastleigh’s defence just didn’t look comfortable leading to a succession of catastrophic errors.
The warning signs were there early on with Scott Bartlett skipping past Francis Benali with ease, minutes into the game with his dangerous ball flying across the face of goal and out for a goal kick.
Moments later, Tarkan Mustafa ran into trouble with his panic clearance falling straight to the feet of former Southampton and Portsmouth left back, Matthew Robinson who swiftly whipped the ball in. Benali headed behind as needless pressure built up on the home side and from the corner came the decisive moment of the game.
Luke Prince picked out a completely unmarked PAUL SALES whose soft header crept over the line striking the bottom of the post and clipping Danny Smith’s heel on it’s way to goal giving Salisbury the perfect start, a lead inside the first ten minutes. Of course, if there was going to be one man to score against Eastleigh it would naturally be the former Eastleigh marksman, who indeed has left a mark on his former club in the past few meetings between the two sides.
There appeared to be little hope and promise from here on and it turned out to be a killer blow from which Eastleigh never recovered.
Things very nearly got an awful lot worse merely seconds after the goal with a calamitous header from Benali. The Eastleigh skipper nodded past his own keeper James Pullen, coming within a whisker of conceding an own goal. To his credit, the veteran got back well to slide his own header off the line to save both his and Eastleigh’s blushes.
Yet another mix-up in the Eastleigh back four could have led to further trouble and would have done, were it not for Pullen. Both Karim El-Salahi and Tarkan Mustafa went for the same ball bumping each other off course to allow Matt Tubbs a free strike at goal who made the most of the defensive error. Tubbs pulled the trigger to force an instinctive reaction save out of the Eastleigh stopper.
When Eastleigh managed to get forward there was no end product and this didn’t look likely to change, as the visitors’ always looked a comfortable and organised unit at the back that never came under any real strain.
As the half wore on there were a couple of half chances for Dodd’s men, firstly a through ball from Carl Wilson-Denis saw both Andy Forbes and Salisbury goalkeeper Ryan Clarke arrive at the same time at the edge of the penalty area. Had it not been for the alertness to the situation from Clarke, there may well have been a different outcome as the Whites cleared their lines.
Liam George showed glimpses of his talent towards the end of the first forty-five, the former Luton Town forward putting in a good ball from which David Hughes had an effort comfortably saved. Moments later, George was at his best again with a sublime piece of skill to get past Robinson failing to pick out an Eastleigh shirt in the middle but winning a corner kick all the same.
This brief spell of Eastleigh pressure continued with George at the heart of things once more. His effort from the edge of the box wasn’t the cleanest of strikes but was heading for goal and had to be cleared in a panic by Paul Sales.
The only other chance that came the home sides way, fell to David Hughes who caught the ball wrong under intense harassment and pressure from Salisbury’s defence.
HALF TIME – Eastleigh 0-1 Salisbury City
Minutes after the restart, improved passing football from Eastleigh led to a rare shot on target, as Liam George weaved his way past his marker before watching his deflected effort saved with little trouble.
After a lucky escape one end with a stray pass giving Sales possession and Tubbs being put through, Eastleigh put together a good move that involved David Hughes, Andy Forbes and Danny Smith – all playing their part in winning an early second half corner.
Not for the first time in the game, the delivery was not up to standard, however it was hooked away by Aaron Cook and into the path of Benali who drove it low and hard from distance, only to see it diverted out for a throw in.
A great demonstration of Salisbury’s stout defending, something that could not be said of Eastleigh, came from a Benali deep cross from the left that had to be dealt with and was. It was a vital interception from the Salisbury skipper, Cook, who got there just ahead of Liam George who was waiting at the back post.
Just after the hour mark, Steve Watts made his debut for Eastleigh with Carl Wilson-Denis making way. Watts, who completed his signing at the end of last week, showed some neat touches and flick on’s but to no avail as Eastleigh tried to conjure up an unlikely equaliser.
The referee confirmed it wasn’t going to be Eastleigh’s afternoon with an odd decision with twenty minutes remaining, one that ultimately cost the Spitfires a point at least. David Hughes was pushed to the ground a good three or four yards inside the penalty area and all of a sudden there was hope as the record crowd of 1,426 all seemed certain the man in the middle pointed to the spot. There was no hesitation in blowing up for the foul and most were convinced a penalty had been awarded.
Somehow, what looked a clear-cut penalty, turned into a free kick on the very edge of the box - this confirming lady luck was not on Eastleigh’s side. Even so, it was still a good position to cause a threat, but Watts smashed straight at the wall and the game went on.
Another ex-Eastleigh striker, substitute Robbie Matthews seemed fired up and determined to put one over his old club and within minutes of coming on had a great opportunity. Matthews was in the clear and was denied only by a superb last ditch and perfectly timed tackle from Karim El-Salahi to thwart the attempt.
Valiant, stout defending from Salisbury meanwhile, put off any chance of an equaliser as they blocked three successive shots in a goalmouth scramble. In the attack leading up to this though, there was a blatant shove in the back of Steve Watts, but the referee in a good position was having none of it.
Six minutes from the end Matthews came so close to doubling the visitors lead. It was a great header out of nowhere that smashed against the woodwork. Tubbs followed the shot up and was denied by a superb saving tackle from Tarkan Mustafa.
There was still time for some late drama. Steve Watts nodding the ball on into the path of strike partner Andy Forbes looked promising before Tim Bond stepped in with an excellent intervention.
Of course, a derby encounter wouldn’t be complete without a little riff-raff and handbags! Steve Watts providing this for us, with a poorly timed challenge, sparking the anger of Salisbury in it’s entirety. The former Fisher Athletic forward got his come-uppance with a yellow card and the situation died down.
Right at the death, Eastleigh very nearly salvaged a point following one last throw of the dice. Watts, and second half sub Jamie Brown who returned to action this afternoon following suspension and then injury, did all the hard work only to see the last gasp effort thrown away. Danny Smith hit his shot into the ground and Liam George was on hand for what looked a simple finish from a couple of yards but somehow turned it wide.
Salisbury took all three points to continue their unbeaten run stretching to six games now, whilst Eastleigh’s hard work over the festive season (7 points from 9) will have to be rebuilt starting with our next game away to Thurrock.
FULL TIME – Eastleigh 0-1 Salisbury City
JAMIE MONTIGUE
SATURDAY 20th JANUARY 2007
Conference South
It was third time unlucky today for the Spitfires against local rivals Salisbury and there were no surprises over the match winner. Paul Sales came back to haunt his former club for a second time following his scissor kick that led to Eastleigh’s exit from the FA Cup back in October. It was Sales’ 9th minute header that proved to be the only goal of the game and was more than enough to see the Whites through to their third victory of the season against Jason Dodd’s side.
There was very little to cheer about in what was Eastleigh’s first game back since New Year’s Day, and the two weeks without a match clearly took its toll on the Spitfires taking the momentum right out of their recent run of form.
From the off, it was clear that Salisbury had the upper hand, this being made all the more easier with the fact that Eastleigh’s defence just didn’t look comfortable leading to a succession of catastrophic errors.
The warning signs were there early on with Scott Bartlett skipping past Francis Benali with ease, minutes into the game with his dangerous ball flying across the face of goal and out for a goal kick.
Moments later, Tarkan Mustafa ran into trouble with his panic clearance falling straight to the feet of former Southampton and Portsmouth left back, Matthew Robinson who swiftly whipped the ball in. Benali headed behind as needless pressure built up on the home side and from the corner came the decisive moment of the game.
Luke Prince picked out a completely unmarked PAUL SALES whose soft header crept over the line striking the bottom of the post and clipping Danny Smith’s heel on it’s way to goal giving Salisbury the perfect start, a lead inside the first ten minutes. Of course, if there was going to be one man to score against Eastleigh it would naturally be the former Eastleigh marksman, who indeed has left a mark on his former club in the past few meetings between the two sides.
There appeared to be little hope and promise from here on and it turned out to be a killer blow from which Eastleigh never recovered.
Things very nearly got an awful lot worse merely seconds after the goal with a calamitous header from Benali. The Eastleigh skipper nodded past his own keeper James Pullen, coming within a whisker of conceding an own goal. To his credit, the veteran got back well to slide his own header off the line to save both his and Eastleigh’s blushes.
Yet another mix-up in the Eastleigh back four could have led to further trouble and would have done, were it not for Pullen. Both Karim El-Salahi and Tarkan Mustafa went for the same ball bumping each other off course to allow Matt Tubbs a free strike at goal who made the most of the defensive error. Tubbs pulled the trigger to force an instinctive reaction save out of the Eastleigh stopper.
When Eastleigh managed to get forward there was no end product and this didn’t look likely to change, as the visitors’ always looked a comfortable and organised unit at the back that never came under any real strain.
As the half wore on there were a couple of half chances for Dodd’s men, firstly a through ball from Carl Wilson-Denis saw both Andy Forbes and Salisbury goalkeeper Ryan Clarke arrive at the same time at the edge of the penalty area. Had it not been for the alertness to the situation from Clarke, there may well have been a different outcome as the Whites cleared their lines.
Liam George showed glimpses of his talent towards the end of the first forty-five, the former Luton Town forward putting in a good ball from which David Hughes had an effort comfortably saved. Moments later, George was at his best again with a sublime piece of skill to get past Robinson failing to pick out an Eastleigh shirt in the middle but winning a corner kick all the same.
This brief spell of Eastleigh pressure continued with George at the heart of things once more. His effort from the edge of the box wasn’t the cleanest of strikes but was heading for goal and had to be cleared in a panic by Paul Sales.
The only other chance that came the home sides way, fell to David Hughes who caught the ball wrong under intense harassment and pressure from Salisbury’s defence.
HALF TIME – Eastleigh 0-1 Salisbury City
Minutes after the restart, improved passing football from Eastleigh led to a rare shot on target, as Liam George weaved his way past his marker before watching his deflected effort saved with little trouble.
After a lucky escape one end with a stray pass giving Sales possession and Tubbs being put through, Eastleigh put together a good move that involved David Hughes, Andy Forbes and Danny Smith – all playing their part in winning an early second half corner.
Not for the first time in the game, the delivery was not up to standard, however it was hooked away by Aaron Cook and into the path of Benali who drove it low and hard from distance, only to see it diverted out for a throw in.
A great demonstration of Salisbury’s stout defending, something that could not be said of Eastleigh, came from a Benali deep cross from the left that had to be dealt with and was. It was a vital interception from the Salisbury skipper, Cook, who got there just ahead of Liam George who was waiting at the back post.
Just after the hour mark, Steve Watts made his debut for Eastleigh with Carl Wilson-Denis making way. Watts, who completed his signing at the end of last week, showed some neat touches and flick on’s but to no avail as Eastleigh tried to conjure up an unlikely equaliser.
The referee confirmed it wasn’t going to be Eastleigh’s afternoon with an odd decision with twenty minutes remaining, one that ultimately cost the Spitfires a point at least. David Hughes was pushed to the ground a good three or four yards inside the penalty area and all of a sudden there was hope as the record crowd of 1,426 all seemed certain the man in the middle pointed to the spot. There was no hesitation in blowing up for the foul and most were convinced a penalty had been awarded.
Somehow, what looked a clear-cut penalty, turned into a free kick on the very edge of the box - this confirming lady luck was not on Eastleigh’s side. Even so, it was still a good position to cause a threat, but Watts smashed straight at the wall and the game went on.
Another ex-Eastleigh striker, substitute Robbie Matthews seemed fired up and determined to put one over his old club and within minutes of coming on had a great opportunity. Matthews was in the clear and was denied only by a superb last ditch and perfectly timed tackle from Karim El-Salahi to thwart the attempt.
Valiant, stout defending from Salisbury meanwhile, put off any chance of an equaliser as they blocked three successive shots in a goalmouth scramble. In the attack leading up to this though, there was a blatant shove in the back of Steve Watts, but the referee in a good position was having none of it.
Six minutes from the end Matthews came so close to doubling the visitors lead. It was a great header out of nowhere that smashed against the woodwork. Tubbs followed the shot up and was denied by a superb saving tackle from Tarkan Mustafa.
There was still time for some late drama. Steve Watts nodding the ball on into the path of strike partner Andy Forbes looked promising before Tim Bond stepped in with an excellent intervention.
Of course, a derby encounter wouldn’t be complete without a little riff-raff and handbags! Steve Watts providing this for us, with a poorly timed challenge, sparking the anger of Salisbury in it’s entirety. The former Fisher Athletic forward got his come-uppance with a yellow card and the situation died down.
Right at the death, Eastleigh very nearly salvaged a point following one last throw of the dice. Watts, and second half sub Jamie Brown who returned to action this afternoon following suspension and then injury, did all the hard work only to see the last gasp effort thrown away. Danny Smith hit his shot into the ground and Liam George was on hand for what looked a simple finish from a couple of yards but somehow turned it wide.
Salisbury took all three points to continue their unbeaten run stretching to six games now, whilst Eastleigh’s hard work over the festive season (7 points from 9) will have to be rebuilt starting with our next game away to Thurrock.
FULL TIME – Eastleigh 0-1 Salisbury City
JAMIE MONTIGUE
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