Southern League Premier Division Tuesday 28 March 2006 - Raymond McEnhill Stadium - kick off 3.00pm

Report taken from by Richard Gadsby

It was City's fans who had the first real reason to cheer. Winger Andy Sandell grabbed the initiative in the opening minutes with a mazy run into the box that took him past four players before the ball was eventually hacked away for a corner. Hopes that it would inspire an early spell of City pressure proved ill-founded though as Salisbury responded with several half-chances of their own. Just a few seconds after Sandell's run, Rene Regis fired a speculative shot wide of Paul Evans' goal and then Salisbury new boy Luke Prince almost broke through only to be denied by a high bounce which allowed Evans to scoop the ball to safety. Paul Sales should have hit the target with a free header from a corner on the 15-minute mark and then Alexander Haddow wasted the best chance of the half with a first-time volley from just inside the area that grazed the top of the crossbar. To their credit, City defended superbly, with Gethin Jones and Matt Coupe in exceptional form, and after weathering the Salisbury storm, the visitors started to string some good moves together. With the half coming to a close, City very nearly opened the scoring when a cross into the box was only cleared as far as Adie Harris who scuffed his shot from the edge of the area over the bar.

Alas, City's final flourish in the first half failed to turn into an inspired second half show and Salisbury slowly started to pile the pressure back on John Relish's side after the restart. Prince forced Evans into a solid stop just seven minutes in and Regis should have done better from ten yards out when he had time to control the ball but instead opted for a rushed shot which flew over. Gethin Jones was forced to hack the ball off his own line during a goalmouth scramble and when Tommy Widdrington's curling free-kick crept inches wide of the top right hand corner a Salisbury goal seemed inevitable. Relish threw on Scott Rogers as the game threatened to spiral away from City and for the last 20 minutes there was nothing between the two sides. In fact, new signing Rogers very nearly won the game in injury time, following a late spell of City pressure, when he beat two men on the right hand side of the box before firing in a low, hard shot that popped out of keeper Kevin Sawyer's grasp. There was a heart-stopping, slow-motion moment, as players from both sides darted for the ball's next, decisive touch, but it was Scott Bartlett who reacted quickest and the chance was quickly snuffed out. Salisbury, who had still been pushing men forward until then, seemed to settle for a point following the late scare and when the final whistle eventually came neither side looked too unhappy at having failed to take maximum points.