Reece Barrett
Salisbury FC clash with the “standard bearers” of the Southern League Premier South, as they host Bracknell Town at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium.
A phenomenal Bracknell side would have felt hard done by last season, as they finished 2nd and only missed out on the Southern League Premier South title by three points.
They just lost out on promotion to the National League South after a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Truro City in the Playoff Final, and have kicked off their campaign slow in comparison to last year’s successes.
But despite their sluggish start, Salisbury manager Brian Dutton has made it abundantly clear that he still respects the quality that Bracknell bring, saying: “They’re the standard bearers of our league.
“It’s not the start they might have wanted but they were very unfortunate not to be promoted. It’s going to be a game that’s going to give us an indication of where we are this season.”
Bracknell are 8th and have already lost three games out of the eight they have played so far – they were only defeated eight times across the entire 42 game-season last year.
Despite his club’s unsteady form, Jordan Espirit has still be firing marvellously, and he will be the player for Salisbury fans to worry about in this fixture – the 30-year-old striker has five league goals in seven games and scored a header in Bracknell’s 2-1 FA Cup win over Havant & Waterlooville.
This inconsistent Bracknell side will have to be at their best to test Dutton’s side as Salisbury still remain undefeated after playing 10 games across all competitions.
However, the away side did sting Salisbury 6-1 in the league last year – a fixture that was Dutton’s 24th game in charge of the Whites.
But the manager has praised how far his side have come since then, saying: “That hurt, but I feel like our group of players now are going to give them much more of a game than we did last season.”
The Whites were victorious last weekend as they continued their FA Cup charge, beating Cornish side Mousehole 5-0 away – they have since drawn Slough Town at home in the Third Qualifying Round which will be played September 30th.
READ: Salisbury learn their opponents in the FA Cup
Tickets for the game can be purchased via the Salisbury FC website – https://salisburyfc.co.uk/tickets/
Keep up to date with the match on Salisbury Radio if you can’t make the game – on DAB – SMART SPEAKERS and ONLINE.
Andy Munns
