Salisbury travel to Chippenham today, with cloudy, grey conditions but no rain, despite this, previous torrential downpours mean the match is being played on a 3G pitch.
Salisbury win the coin toss and get underway with kick off, and are applying the pressure with a strong presence up front in the form of Leanne Griffiths-Lower, Zoe Alcock on the left and Deyna Davie on the right, they push forward through a poor defensive line, advance on goal and take a shot on target but it hits a defender and rebounds back, Griffiths-Lower takes a touch to bring the ball under control seamlessly, she takes a shot and finds the back of the net to get Salisbury ahead within two minutes of kick off. 1-0 Salisbury.
Chippenham restart the game and make a few good passes but Nicky Millings – playing in her usual defensive midfielder role – breaks up the play and gets Salisbury back in control. A ball recycled back to Captain Gemma Marsh is taken from her feet, and Chippenham’s striker heads towards goal with incredible pace. It’s 1 v 1 against GK Daisy Burnfield, she comes off her line to close the ball down, but a simple shot out of reach of her right hand crosses the line. 1-1.
Salisbury kick-off for the second time and keep the ball well with awesome pass and play movement in the middle, triangles are made between the likes of Noni Davis, Millings, Ellen Clarke, Alcock and Davie. The game is flowing, Rachel Lang is stretching her legs and bombing it up the left wing – going for her signature cut in and shoot, but Chippenham’s centre back puts in a horrendous tackle on Lang, bringing her to the ground on the outskirts of the box. Salisbury are awarded a free kick in a dangerous position. Vice Captain Ellen Clarke steps up and with her sights on goal strikes the ball beautifully – it scrapes just below the crossbar and goes into the top right corner. 2-1 Salisbury.
The game restarts, but becomes disjointed with an excess of start-stop as Chippenham players go down with injuries. Many of the players are on standby as the Chippenham players with injury refuse to leave the pitch due to a lack of available substitutions. These injuries see both teams through to virtually half-time, giving no chance for either side to get going again.
Salisbury come back onto the pitch from the changing rooms and keep the play similar to that of the first half with strong passing and control of the ball. Though injuries begin to hit – within five minutes into the second half Salisbury make two substitutions with Kylie Allen coming off due to injury and her centre-back role being filled by Griffiths-Lower. Davie is shifted into the middle, and Lucy Pears comes on in her place on the right wing. Georgi Bavister comes on to replace Alcock on the left wing.
Georgi Bavister makes a drastic impact, repeatedly unsettling the Chippenham defence with good tackles, winning the ball several times and crossing it into the box towards Davie, having a shot on target herself, but meeting the GK’s hands.
Lucy Pears makes good progress on the right wing – a strong pass up the line from Evie Cummings rolls the ball into Pears’ line of sight. She takes off up the wing to get to the ball before Chippenham’s defence, they meet the ball at the same time, with the Chippenham GK coming off her line to support the defender, but Pears gets her right foot around it, drags it towards the box and gets it to an unmarked Davie who easily finds the back of and open goal making it 3-1 to Salisbury.
Chippenham kick-off again but Salisbury clean up quickly and win the ball back – Chippenham’s lack of fresh legs is really beginning to show as a stray ball floats down the middle. Griffiths-Lower comes forward from the back line and makes a brilliant clearance just beyond the halfway line after spying the Chippenham GK has drifted into the middle of their half, the soaring strike goes straight over the goalkeeper’s head and ends up in the net. 4-1 Salisbury.
Two more changes for Salisbury to replace tired legs, Noni Davis comes off for Salisbury’s U16 Girls’ Captain Beth McKinney and shortly after, Vice Captain Ellen Clarke makes way for Gemma Fletcher.
Chippenham pass the ball around, taking advantage of an unsettled Salisbury, and send their pacey striker through the defence with a long ball, the striker manages the defensive line well, avoiding an offside, collecting the ball, and shoots for goal, Burnfield makes a dive but it evades her glove, getting the second Chippenham goal of the match.
Salisbury kick-off for the last time of the match and are putting in a last ditch effort – Fletcher retrieves the ball in the middle, avoids a Chippenham midfielder and wins a tackle over a Chippenham centre-back, she nips the ball around a third to get it to Bavister who has charged her way down the wing, finding great space and making a quality cross into Davie who is unmarked in the box again. Davie controls the ball smooth as anything and fires it toward goal, the goalkeeper can’t get anywhere near the ball and Davie claims her brace. 5-2 to Salisbury.
Chippenham go for kick-off but there isn’t much time to do anything as the ref blows the whistle for full time. Final score 5-2 to Salisbury.
Player of the match goes to Leanne Griffiths-Lower who had a fantastic game and worked incredibly hard. She had a strong presence upfront where she scored her first goal but also influenced the game after being relocating to defence, where she still claimed her second goal from just beyond the halfway line.
Match Reporter – Sean Brady
