By Pete Martin
Salisbury suffered a 2nd consecutive defeat as they went down to a 1-0 loss at Walton and Hersham. Manager Brian Dutton handed a debut to new signing Sam Perry, Aaron McCreadie the man to drop to the bench, and also bought in Josh Sommerton in place of Jamar Smith.
It was an extremely quiet opening to the game in fairly windy conditions, with very little of note happening in the opening 30 minutes. On 6 minutes a Charlie Gunson cross drifted just over the top of the bar for the Whites but other than that there was nothing in the way of penalty box action. That changed on 33 minutes as the hosts took the lead with the game’s 1st shot at goal. With Salisbury claiming a foul on Gunson high up the pitch, Walton defender Harry Pointing played a long ball down the middle of the pitch and found Ibrahim Olutade in on goal. The attacker took a couple of touches to take him into the box and slotted the ball past Josh Gould and into the back of the net. After that moment of excitement, the game settled back down with neither side able to get a grip and dominate the ball.
On 37 minutes Salisbury midfielder Ryan Penny dragged a shot wide from 25 yards, whilst at the other end Pointing did likewise when he came forward. Shortly before the break the Whites were forced into a change, Aaron Simpson had twice received treatment on the pitch for a knock and Smith came on to replace him just before the referee brought an end to a fairly uneventful half of football.
The 2nd half was marginally better, although still very light on goalscoring chances at either end. On 52 minutes though Walton did have a good chance to extend their lead; Eddie Simon turning in the box and firing a low shot which Gould did well to keep out of the net. Salisbury were working hard to get back into the game, without being able to find much to threaten the Walton defence. On 58 minutes a ball in from Josh Hedges on the right saw Harry Williams unable to make a proper connection, and the ball was easily claimed by keeper Tyla Dickinson.
A couple of changes for the Whites failed to have the desired effect and it wasn’t until the 85th minute that they could create another opportunity; Josh Hedges firing into the side netting when well placed on the right-hand side of the box. Deep into time added on they had 1 final effort, Hedges seeing a header blocked by the home defence after Sommerton had put in a fine ball from the left-hand side, but the home side were able to see the game out and condemn the Whites to just their 3rd defeat of the season.
Salisbury will aim to get back to winning ways next Saturday 16th October when they welcome Hendon FC to the Ray Mac for a 3 pm kick-off.
Team: Gould, Simpson(Smith), Sommerton, Leggett, Jombati, Penny(Robinson), Perry, Gunson, Hedges, Coppin(Fitchett), Williams. Unused Subs: Osei, McCreadie.
