By Pete Martin – Cover image by Roger Elliott
Salisbury were knocked out of the FA Cup at the 2nd Qualifying Round as they lost at home to National League South side Oxford City. The White’s team sheet showed 4 changes from the midweek defeat to Merthyr. Captain, Darren Mullings returned to the starting lineup. Alongside Antonio Diaz, Brandon Goodship and Ben Thomson with Marvin Brooks, Seokjae Lee, Sam Ashton and the cup-tied Josh Carmichael the players to drop out.
It was Salisbury who started off the brightest and could have gone ahead inside the opening two minutes. Some good interplay saw the ball come across to Goodship on the left of the box and after he cut back inside and crashed a shot goalwards, Oxford keeper Ben Dudzinski beat the ball out straight to Devon Arnold who was poised to give his side the perfect start only for an Oxford defender to come flying across to block the ball.
Following another half chance for Goodship, it was Oxford’s turn to threaten after 10 minutes but Zac McEachran could only shoot wide following good play on the right-hand side. 2 minutes later they came even closer as Klaidi Lolos crashed a shot inches over the bar following an explosive burst into the box. The game then settled down with nothing much in the way of goalmouth action for the following 15 minutes until just before the half-hour mark when Lolos again got away down the right and this time managed to get his shot on target, but White’s keeper Gerard Benfield made an excellent save with his feet to keep the scores level. There were further half chances at both ends, Mullings for Salisbury and Oliver Sanderson for Oxford, but neither team could force a breakthrough and a fairly even first half saw both teams head into the break level.
The second half saw Oxford come out looking stronger and they had 2 efforts within the opening 10 minutes of the half; firstly Sanderson shot over following a good run from the right before Benfield tipped over a long-range effort from Josh Parker. The pressure the visitors were applying did tell though when they scored twice in 90 seconds just before the hour mark. It was Sanderson who opened the scoring, netting with a placed finish past Benfield following a well-timed run beyond the defence when a long ball was played forward from the back. The second goal was a well-worked move and saw Lewis Coyle apply the finish after some quick feet from McEeachran.
The quickfire double was a blow for Salisbury but they continued to battle away in an attempt to get back into the game without managing to properly test Dudzinski. They did come close on 73 minutes when persistence from Diaz saw him keep hold of the ball into the box but his effort was eventually blocked behind for a corner which unfortunately led to nothing.
With time running out and Salisbury pouring forward the Oxford defence had to be alert to crowd out Ashton before Lee could only lash the loose ball over the bar from the left-hand side of the box. Deep into time added on, the White’s pulled a goal back through substitute, Dan Fitchett as he poked home underneath Dudzinski following Mullings flick on and with the dying seconds of the game the same player was unable to quite get a proper connection on the ball in the box to ensure that Oxford were the side that put their name into the hat for Tuesday’s draw.
The Whites will be back in league action next Saturday 24th September when they welcome league newcomers Bracknell Town to the Ray Mac.
Team: Benfield, Gillela, Diaz, Roberts(Fitchett), Sutcliffe, Wakefield, Davis, Mullings, Arnold(Lee), Goodship(Ashton), Thomson.
Unused subs: Matthews, Fox
