Salisbury ended 2023 with a draw

Salisbury FC ended 2023 with a goalless draw away to Basingstoke Town and sitting second in the league table.

Salisbury made two changes to the starting lineup: Lewis Gunstone-Gray made his league debut with Josh Gould still out injured, and Wayne Robinson replaced Ryan Penny.

Salisbury don’t seem to fair too well on artificial pitches, and once again, they didn’t take all three points from the game despite being awarded a penalty.

The Whites started brightly enough, with Dan Fitchett flashing a header just wide in the first few minutes.

The game settled into a midfield battle until the quarter-hour mark when Salisbury were awarded a penalty – Tom Leggett fouled near the byline as he broke into the box.

Sido Jombati stepped up, and his penalty was comfortably saved and held by Basingstoke’s keeper, Paul Strudley.

Salisbury were forced into a change on the half-hour mark when Josh Sommerton went off with an injury. Ryan Penny replaced him, pushing Aaron McCreadie into the vacant fullback role.

The change unsettled Salisbury for a short while, and Basingstoke almost capitalised, but Brad Wilson’s shot was blocked.

Salisbury came close to breaking the deadlock as the game approached the final 5 minutes of the half when Wayne Robinson’s curling shot came back off the bar, and the sides went in level.

The game in the second half was affected by the arrival of wind and heavy rain, making the conditions tricky. Salisbury had plenty of the ball but were unable to capitalise as Basingstoke shut up shop with a compact defence.

Next up for Brian Dutton’s side is the visit of Tiverton Town at the Ray Mac this Saturday, 6th January. Kick-off is at 3 pm and the side will be hoping to build on the 1000+ crowd that they had on boxing day.

Tickets are available on the club website – https://salisburyfc.co.uk/tickets/