Ten-man Salisbury hold on for away draw

Salisbury FC opened the season with a point away at Hemel Hempstead Town following a 2-2 draw.

In a game of two halves, Craig Fasanmade opened his goal-scoring account with a first-half double against his former side before goals from Riccardo German and Brandon Barzey meant the spoils were shared.

Brian Dutton handed debuts to Jordan Ragguette, Luke Wilkinson, and Ronan Silva, along with other newcomers George Franklin and Rafa Ramos, who were on the bench.

They faced a much-changed Hemel side, which made 16 signings during the off-season, four of which were in their starting lineup. Manager Bobby Wilkinson was vocal from the touchline about his demands of his players.

Salisbury started brightly and had an early chance as Josh Hedges skipped through but could not apply the finish.

Ronan Silva could have done better when a Craig Fasanmade attempt came back off Hemel's keeper Craig King, but his effort went over from 8- yards out.

Salisbury took the lead on 24 minutes when Josh Hedges set up Craig Fasanmade, who finished well.

The pair combined again 14 minutes later when Fasanmade finished well after being teed up by Hedges doubling his and Salisbury's tally for the day.

There could have been more goals in the first half, but Craig King did well to deny a Josh Hedges effort that looked like it was curling toward the top corner from 20 yards, and Ryan Gosney pushed away an effort from Iaciofano.

Salisbury led 2-0 at halftime and were good value for their advantage.

Brian Dutton made a change at halftime, with Josh Sommerton replacing Ronan Silva. Hemel also made a change with Jack Davies replacing Renny Smith and matching up system wise with Salisbury.

Hemel piled on the pressure and Salisbury began to drop deeper and struggled to hold on to the ball like they did in the first half.

Further substitutions followed, with Luke Wilkinson making way just after the house mark with George Franklin making his debut. Hemel also made a change with Riccardo German coming on, the top scorer in the Southern League Premier Division last season at Chesham United.

German got Hemel back into the game with a slightly miss-hit shot that, via a deflection off a Salisbury defender, found its way into the back of the net.

Buoyed by this, Hemel threw everything at Salisbury, and on 81 minutes, they got their equaliser. Brandon Barzey finished well to level the game up.

Salisbury may have wanted to go looking for a winner, but their challenge became harder when referee Charles Martland deemed Gosney's tackle on Cook-Appiah just outside of the box to be a red card offence.

Tom Leggett donned the gloves and lurid green keeping shirt and was well protected by those in front of him.

Salisbury, however, did come close to snatching a win when Josh Hedges's speculative effort from 25 yards drew another good save from King.

The game finished 2-2 after 7 minutes of added time, and Salisbury left with a slight feeling of what might have been.

Salisbury next face Slough Town at the Ray Mac on Saturday, 17th August; kickoff is at 3 pm. You can buy your tickets online here - https://salisburyfc.co.uk/tickets/