By Pete Martin
The 1st match of the Brian Dutton era saw Salisbury FC return from Oxfordshire with a share of the points following a 1-1 draw with North Leigh. The new manager’s first team sheet showed 1 change from the previous game, Darren Mullings dropping to the bench with Brandon Goodship coming in to start.
The opening minutes saw both sides engaged in a midfield battle with neither side able to gain superiority and fashion a real chance. A couple of dangerous balls into the box from North Leigh’s James Dobson and a shot dragged well wide from Salisbury’s Josh Sommerton were the sum total of the goal-mouth action in the first 20 minutes. As the game approached the half-hour mark Goodship had a couple of half chances; firstly shooting wide when Antonio Diaz had done well to flick on Gerard Benfield’s long clearance and then a couple of minutes later shooting low at keeper Adam North following a good link up down the right between Diaz and Charlie Davis. The first chance for the home side came on 33 minutes when Amer Awadh fired a left foot shot narrowly wide of goal but just 7 minutes later they had the lead. The ball was lost in the Salisbury midfield and when it was played into the box Sommerton failed to get enough on his header clear and it fell to Jordan Alves who calmly fired home into the roof of the net to give his side the advantage heading into half time.
The second half saw North Leigh start the brighter and just 5 minutes into the half Benfield needed to be alert to keep out an acrobatic effort from Levi Steele when the home side broke, but as the half went on it was Salisbury who started to get more of a foothold in the game. The Whites had plenty of possession but were struggling to break down an organised defence, with only speculative long-range efforts and the occasional ball across the area to show for it. On 75 minutes Goodship drew a good save from North when well placed in the box before on 80 minutes 2 corners in succession saw the Whites equalise. The first from Diaz on the right side saw the ball bundled behind and the second was whipped into the back post area where Sam Roberts rose unopposed to power the ball home and bring the scores level. That was pretty much that in terms of goal chances with neither side able to carve out an opportunity to win the game meaning the points were shared in what was overall an even game.
Dutton’s first home game in charge will be next Saturday 22nd October when Met Police visit the Ray Mac for a 3 pm kick-off.
Team: Benfield, Davis, Sommerton, Roberts, Gillela, Wakefield, Carmichael, Lee(Mullings), Diaz, Goodship, Fitchett(Thomson).
Unused Subs: Matthews, Fox
