Salisbury FC undefeated streak ends with feisty Sholing loss

Sholing struck early when Wayne Robinson planted a powerful header past Josh Gould in the 8th minute, which immediately brought the game to a slow pace that favoured the home side.

In the 54th minute, Daniel Mason drilled a low shot underneath the keeper and into the bottom corner to create a two goal gap that Salisbury could not bridge.

Despite dominating possession and pushing forward throughout the second half, the Whites only got one back when a Josh Hedges cross created a moment of chaos and Sholing’s Sam Pritchard knocked the ball into his own net.

The loss was Salisbury’s first in 11 games (including two FA Cup victories) and knocked them down to 4th place.

With the Whites playing at the Imperial Homes Stadium for the first time since 2015, they took the game to Sholing and forced their opponents to play at their fast tempo in the opening minutes.

But it was Josh Hedges who lost the ball on the halfway line, and Sholing’s Jake Hesketh burst forward on the counter attack as he ran down Salisbury’s left side.

Hesketh whipped the ball towards the back post and it was met by Robinson who powered the ball in with his head - putting Sholing a goal up within the first ten minutes.

Salisbury took control of the game after conceding though and an in-form Noah Coppin had a half-chance on the edge of the box, but he was off-balance when he hit it and the goalkeeper collected it easily.

Sholing kept catching Salisbury off guard in midfield though, and they threatened a second goal by countering the Whites when they misplaced passes.

Jake Cope took a curling shot inside of the penalty box and it forced a fantastic save from Gould who tipped the ball around the far post. 

Sparks began to fly in the 32nd minute when Southampton loanee Josh Squires took Cope out with a careless high challenge. He was booked by the referee but arguably was lucky to have stayed on the pitch.

Sholing went into half time with a well-fought lead and then dropped deep in the second half, playing a low block that Salisbury struggled to find the answer to.

Salisbury had long spells of possession in which they would push up the pitch but we're unable to create a clear cut chance, with the Boatmen’s defence being too compact to crack open.

Their dominance was only disrupted by a long stop in play due to the net falling off of the goal. Two Sholing players had to climb on each other’s shoulders in order to hook it back onto the crossbar.

But it was early into the second half in the 58th minute when Salisbury were finally punished by their sloppy passing as Jake Hesketh latched onto a loose ball inside the away side’s half.

He looped in another good cross, and this time he found Mason, who took two touches to steady himself and then smashed it towards Gould.

The Salisbury number one did not have time to react: he got a touch on the ball but was not able to stop it from nestling into the bottom corner.

The second half was slowed by a steady stream of cheap fouls from both sides. The two teams clashed in the 68th minute when a silly foul on Aaron McCreadie in the air brought all 22 men into the middle of the pitch. 

Two players were booked for dissent amongst the several minutes of pushing and shoving.

The numerous stoppages meant that eight minutes were added on, but it took Salisbury the entirety of stoppage time to finally get a goal back.

A Salisbury corner was cleared and it eventually fell to Hedges down the left side. He hammered it into the box and the power of the delivery meant that Sholing’s Pritchard could not react in time, and he was helpless within all of the chaos to prevent the own goal.

It was too late for the Whites though and the referee blew the final whistle from a goal kick a minute later.

Salisbury return to the Raymond McEnhill Stadium next Saturday as their FA Cup campaign continues, and they host National League South team Slough Town in the Third Qualifying Round.