Aldershot & Farnham men’s 1st team picked up a valuable three points with a 3-2 away win at Salisbury.

Goalkeeper Adam Rees made his first appearance of the season following foot surgery and he was immediately called into action to save a short corner, as A&F worryingly looked slow at the start yet again.

With a handful of key players missing and some rejigging of positions it was perhaps not surprising A&F took a little while to find some rhythm, but they soon did, with James Huggins calmly stepping into the sweeper role and distributing effectively from the back.

Ten minutes in Harry Johnson picked the ball up on the left and drove into the ‘D to draw a penalty corner. From the top Huggins aimed bottom left which Ian Metcalfe got a touch on to make it 1-0.

The lead lasted ten minutes after a defensive error allowed Reece Exton in and he lifted the ball over an on-rushing Rees.

A&F responded well though, the combative Stu Morhall moved the ball into the Charlie Johnson who dribbled from midway inside the Salisbury half to the left of the circle from where he unleashed a superb reverse strike into the far corner of the net at chest height. Johnson remained a creative threat for A&F all game.
Ben Blandford made a smart reflex goal line clearance to deny Salisbury and equaliser.
2-1 up at half time, A&F sensed they had a real opportunity, but knew Salisbury would come out hard, and so they did. Winning a short corner, they converted by reacting first to a rebound and level the game.
A&F were maintaining good shape and structure, and perhaps crucially their discipline. With umpiring decisions that became a bit of a lottery, A&F dealt with the situation well, whilst Salisbury received three green cards.
Metcalfe had another deflection on the left post from a Huggins corner cleared off the goal line, but switching to the right post for the next corner tipped Huggins delivery into the roof of the net to restore the goal lead with thirteen minutes remaining.
With the game opening up, Nathan Stanley made a few key challenges to deny the Salisbury forwards to break through, but A&F generally managed the game well until Salisbury won a penalty corner on the full-time whistle. The initial corner was saved by Rees and then deemed to be deliberately cleared off the back line by Chris Edwards, so another corner was awarded to heighten tension further. But again, the attempt was well dealt with, and A&F had the win.