Late goal sees Salisbury knocked out of FA Cup by Bath City

Monday, 30 September 2024 05:55

A late Bath City goal saw Salisbury knocked out of the FA Cup after an entertaining encounter at the Ray Mac.

Alex Flsher scored in the second minute of added time at the end of the 90 to complete the turnaround after Salisbury led 1-0 at halftime thanks to a Josh Hedges goal.

After a quiet start to the game where both sides were feeling each other out, Salisbury started to gain a foothold and broke the deadlock in the 18th minute.

Noah Coppin struck Salisbury's first real shot on target - Harvey Wiles-Richards saved it in the Bath goal, but the rebound fell kindly for Salisbury, and Josh Hedges applied the finish from close range.

Bath pushed back and Clark came close just 6 minutes later when he headed just over at the back post. They came closer still as the half progressed, hitting the bar in the 40th minute after Aziaya failed to deal with a dangerous cross. Former Salisbury loanee Kieran Parselle just unable to get his acrobatic effort on target.

The away side had the ball in the back of the net before the half was over, but Nick Grimes was adjudged to have been offside before putting the ball away, and Salisbury led by 1-0 at the break.

The home side started the second half well, and Wiles-Richards was forced into a couple of early saves, first from Jordan Thomas, who tried to lift the ball over the Bath stopper when in one-on-one before palming over a good effort from Hedges.

The leveller came in the 63rd minute when Salisbury failed to clear the ball on a couple of occasions, and Jordan Tilson was the man in the right place at the right time, squeezing the ball home after a bit of a scramble in the box.

Both sides pushed for a winner, with both 'keepers playing their part in keeping the scores at 1-1, Wiles-Richards denying Aidan Elliott-Wheeler and Aziaya with a great stop from a point-blank effort with just four minutes left on the clock.

Salisbury created a flurry of chances as the game ticked towards full time, but they weren't able to take any and it was Bath's Alex Fisher who made the difference.

A thorn in Salisbury's defence all game, the tall striker rose highest to head home from 8 yards out with 2 minutes of added time played to send the Romans through to the next qualifying round of the cup.