Salisbury head to West Sussex still searching for first win of the season

Brian Dutton's Salisbury side are still looking for their first win of the season as they head to West Sussex for their first-ever meeting with Horsham.

It's not been the start to the season that many Salisbury supporters had hoped for after a summer of excitement and high-profile signings, following Ali Alhamad's purchase of the club. 

In the five matches so far, Dutton's side have scored three goals, all coming in their last match, whilst conceding six. The first four games of the season saw the Whites draw a blank, with goalless draws in the opening two matches against Hampton & Richmond and Dagenham & Redbridge. 

Two defeats followed against Bath and Dover, before a captivating draw at home against Hornchurch on bank holiday Monday. 

Salisbury had led in the first minute through Josh Keeya, but found themselves three-one down by halftime. However, the second half was a different game, and Salisbury fought back for a draw, despite being down to 10 men for the final 18 minutes.

For the first time since promotion, Salisbury find themselves in the National League South relegation places and heading to West Sussex needing a performance. 

Brian Dutton, after the fightback against top of the table Hornchurch, said he thought his players showed great character to come back:

Horsham, newly promoted to the league after winning the Isthmian League Premier Division last season, are one point better off than Salisbury heading into the fixture. 

So far, they have lost three, drawn one and won one of their matches, with the victory coming against Torquay United last Saturday, with a two-one win over the side from Devon. 

In their last match, they lost away to Maidenhead United on Bank Holiday Monday. 

Horsham had led at half-time after a goal from Shamir Fenelon, but the hosts fought back in the second half, and goals from Clerima (50) and Mitchell-Lawson (74) gave Maidenhead their first win of the season. 

Horsham manager, Dom Di Paola, told the Horsham club website that his side weren't sharp enough in the second half, "We weren’t sharp enough in the second half and we got punished, but I don’t think they did much to beat us, to be honest. I just think they brought fresh legs on and could run more. They brought on three top-drawer players, and we don’t have that luxury at the moment.

“I feel for everyone because the boys are trying really hard and we’ve not got the options to adjust things as we want to, and often we’re having to make changes through injuries and fatigue, as opposed to tactical [reasons]. I can’t think of more than maybe three tactical subs we’ve made in the five games. All our subs at the moment are plugging the gaps for players who are coming off injured or fatigued.

“On the plus side, Greg [Luer] is nearly there, Lucas [Rodrigues] will be back from his loan for the Eastbourne game, and Rhys [Murphy] will get better and better. He didn’t want to come off after an hour today, but I’m very mindful of the fact that he missed the whole of pre-season, and if we injure him by rushing him back, we’re going to end up short again.

“With Lucas back, if we can get one or two more on the pitch, we’ll be alright.”

There will be no match commentary on Salisbury Radio Sport this weekend due to a lack of personnel availability.