Andy Munns
Salisbury made it seven wins in a row after another second-half comeback against a stubborn Dorchester side.
Goals from Sido Jombati, Charlie Gunson and Josh Hedges were enough to keep Salisbury four points clear at the top of the table.
Dorchester made it a challenging game for Brian Dutton’s side, especially in the first half.
The game got off to a slow start, with both ‘keepers rarely called upon to do anything more than collect the ball.
The first shot of any note came after 16 minutes when Charlie Gunson’s shot from the edge of the area was straight at Adam Forster in the Dorchester goal.
It took 38 minutes for the deadlock to be broken, and it came due to an error rather than attacking intent.
Salisbury captain Jombatti slipped whilst in possession of the ball deep inside his own half. Dorchester pounced on the slip, and one pass later, Will Fletcher was baring down on Gould and finished well into the bottom corner.
Three minutes later, it looked like the away side would double their lead, but Aaron Simpson reacted well to take the ball off the striker’s toes after Gould was only able to palm the ball back into the danger area after making a save.
Salisbury were struggling to create anything of note and trailed 1-0 at halftime.
As the teams emerged for the second half, Dan Fitchett was stripped and ready and replaced Wayne Robinson, a change that changed the feel of the game.
Salisbury started the second half playing 10 yards higher up the pitch, and Fitchett was making a nuisance of himself.
Salisbury only took 6 minutes of the second half to level the scores. Sido Jombati rose higher than anyone else and headed into the top right-hand corner from a Charlie Gunson corner.
Salisbury were now creating chances, and Fitchett was causing problems and was twice denied by Forster with two excellent saves.
The first was on 68 minutes when he tipped Fitchett’s shot wide, and then six minutes later, he somehow managed to keep the ball out from Fitchett’s effort from around 6 yards out.
Salisbury then took the lead when Charlie Gunson volleyed home spectacularly from an Aaron McCreadie cross on 77 minutes. Salisbury were now in the ascendency.
Dorchester fought back in the closing stages and probably should have levelled in injury time when a free kick was headed back across the goal. The finish from a few yards out though was high, wide and not very pretty.
Salisbury, though, broke up the other end; Fitchett broke into the box before squaring to Josh Hedges, who finished well there minutes into added time.
That wasn’t the last of the goals, though, as Dorchester grabbed back a late, late goal through Shaquille Gwengwe to make it 3-2 in the fifth minute of injury time, but it was too little too late.
Attendance – 877
Salisbury now face three tough away games. First up is a trip to Merthyr Town next Saturday (2nd December).
Feature Image: Andrew Palk
