By Pete Martin – Cover image by Roger Elliott
2 late goals saw Salisbury held at home to a 3-3 draw against struggling Hendon FC. Brian Dutton made 2 changes to his starting lineup, with both Marvin Brooks and Brandon Goodship returning to the starting XI following injury; Sam Roberts and Devon Arnold the players dropping to the bench.
Images by Roger Elliott
It was the home side who were dominant early on, both Brooks and Goodship testing Marcin Brzozowski in the Hendon goal to no avail. It took until 10 minutes into the game for the Greens to mount any sort of attack and from it, they took the lead. Rohodell Gordon fed the ball in from the left-hand side to midfielder Solomon Sambou who took a touch and drilled the ball low past Gerard Benfield and into the back of the net. Despite this brief foray into the Salisbury half most of the game was being played in Hendon’s half and on 13 minutes a Goodship freekick drew a fine save from Brzozowski as the Whites pushed for the equaliser. As the half went on Salisbury continued to dominate possession but weren’t able to create many chances; Marvin Brooks heading a corner over on 37 minutes and his brother Calvin doing likewise 5 minutes later being the closest they came, until in time added on they managed to level the score. A long pass from Dinesh Gillela found Dan Fitchett running through and he fed it inside to Goodship who calmly applied the finish to send the sides in level.
The second half saw the pattern of play continue and just 2 minutes in The Whites thought they’d taken the lead but the ball had gone out of play before being bundled home. On 55 minutes a good move from Salisbury saw Carmichael clip the ball deep into the box, with Marvin Brooks heading wide from a good position. 4 minutes later Hendon showed their 1st threat of the half, with Guri Demuria drawing a good save from Benfield with a flick header at the near post. Shortly after the hour mark, The Whites took the lead with Calvin Brooks on hand to bundle the ball home after Lucas Tomlinson’s freekick fell to him in the box. Just 7 minutes later it was 3 with Fitchett getting his name on the scoresheet; Marvin Brooks won his header in midfield allowing Josh Wakefield to feed it through to the striker who beat Brzozowski to the ball and finished well. With the game entering time added on and seemingly drifting towards a comfortable home win, Hendon got what looked to be just a consolation goal with Joe White finishing from inside the box and then with virtually the last kick of the game they snatched a draw when Demuria slid the ball past Benfield to the delight of the visitors.
Salisbury take a break from league action with a Wiltshire Premier Shield tie at home to Corsham Town on Tuesday 6th December before returning to league action next Saturday 10th December with a trip to Beaconsfield Town for a 3 pm kick-off.
Team: Benfield, Brooks C, Sommerton(Lee), Gillela, Kherbouche, Carmichael, Wakefield, Brooks M, Tomlinson, Goodship(Arnold), Fitchett.
Unused Subs: Roberts, Gunstone-Gray.
Images by Roger Elliott
