Reece Barrett
Salisbury punished a sloppy Highworth Town with a 5-1 goalfest in the Wiltshire Premier Shield quarter-finals, and now advance to host League Two’s Swindon Town in the next round.
Goals from Devon Arnold, Seoksae Lee and Lucas Tomlinson saw the Whites cruise past the Worthians in a cursed fixture that was finally played out after being rearranged three times.
The winning team’s thrashing included a hatful of “goal of the season” contenders – especially Lee’s free kick from the penalty box line – and Tobi Ogundega being substituted with an injury was their only real concern of the evening.
Salisbury took the opportunity to gain confidence after a run of poor form against lower league opposition, as the Whites had won just one game from seven in 2023 prior to the match.
But with the weather as cold as their recent results, they started red hot with a flurry of three shots on target all within the first two minutes.
It took just 14 minutes for Salisbury to open the scoring, as a poor backpass put Devon Arnold one-on-one with ‘keeper – where he baited him into diving with a stepover, dribbled past him and rolled the ball calmly into an open net.
Brian Dutton was determined not to let his side get complacent, with his orders echoing around a relatively empty Raymond McEnhill Stadium.
With Salisbury firmly in control of the game, Tobi Ogundega was taken off in 22nd minute and replaced by Joshua Sommerton – limping off of the pitch in what could be a big injury concern for the home side.
A curling effort from Tomlinison just outside of the box forced another save from the Highworth keeper, and it fell to Arnold who crossed the ball back into the penalty spot.
Sukjae Lee was there to tap it in, and he placed it into the bottom left corner to give Salisbury their second goal of the night in the 38th minute.
Aaron McCreadie replaced Seung Yang during the break, and the Highworth fans must have regretted taking the hour long drive south as the goals kept on coming.
In the 50th minute, Lee – who was the Man of the Match – doubled his tally with a superb free-kick practically on the penalty box line.
Three players stood over the ball until the crowd departed and Lee put his foot through it, nestling it beautifully into the top left corner with finesse that fooled the keeper.
Just seconds later and Tomlinson made a tackle straight off of kick-off, stealing the ball and driving toward the box – unleashing a rocket past the ‘keeper who could not even get close to it.
Highworth did not let the party start early however, as Ashley Edenborough squeezed a header past Gerald Binfield to score the visiting team’s only goal.
Arnold immediately responded with a low driven finish to secure his brace, converting a pin-point cross from new signing Michael Elise-Fernandes who marked his second appearance for the Whites with an assist.
Salisbury return to league action this Saturday, as they host Tiverton Town in their last February fixture. The new month opens with an away game against play-off chasing Met Police FC on Saturday March 4th.
Andy Munns
