An end-to-end affair settled a 1-1 scoreline against Salisbury on our Saturday afternoon travels, which ordered a sequel for the FA Cup 3rd Round Qualifying tie, set to be played in midweek.
An early opener from Louis Storey set the tone of the game, preceding an eventful 90 minutes of football. However, our lead was cancelled out by one of our former stars Matthew Briggs just after the interval.
We got off to a dream start in Wiltshire, as our attacking threat resulted in a goal just four minutes in. A menacing long ball into the box found Alfie Rutherford at the back post, who then squared it back across goal for defender Louis Storey to tap into an open net. 0-1
The chances kept coming in the first half, as we almost doubled our lead ten minutes later. Rutherford’s effort on goal was stopped by goalkeeper William Buse’s left leg, following Dennon Lewis’ pass into the penalty area. Then just moments later, Jimmy Muitt fired an audacious volley over the bar from outside the box.
The latter man was then taken off, replaced by Josh Hebert, resulting in our wingers swapping flanks.
The hosts started to grow into the game later in the first half, squandering a chance which came from pinball in our 18-yard box. They then had another hit from long range, which was comfortably caught by Noah Phillips.
To cap off the first 45 minutes, Harry Tustin’s drilled attempt from the 18-yards out kissed Phillips’ post, after a loose corner fell to the midfielder.
Half-Time: Salisbury 0-1 Dorking Wanderers
Salisbury entered the second half straight off the blocks, leveling the tie in the 49th minute. Former Wanderer Matthew Briggs plucked a long ball down on his chest, which he then took round Phillips and slotted it into our net, against Storey’s efforts to block it. 1-1
Despite conceding an unfortunate equaliser early into the second half, we continued to ambush the hosts’ goal, with two more positive chances to spur momentum in our favour.
The end-to-end football began to settle down midway into the second period, as both outfits cautiously plotted their next attacks.
However, the hosts had the next clear-cut chance, when Harry Tustin went through on goal in the first minute of injury time. However, a miraculous last-ditch tackle from Storey thwarted Salisbury’s hopes.
We soon hit back, as substitute Frank Vincent launched one from long range which caused difficulty for Buse in goal. But despite both sides’ attempts to net a late goal, the game finished all square.
Full-Time: Salisbury 1-1 Dorking Wanderers
We now look ahead to the replay of this match at Meadowbank in the week, offering both teams the chance of a 4th Round Qualifying draw.