Gates slams door on old teammates

1:37pm Wednesday 23rd July 2008

Andover 3 Salisbury C Res 2.

LIONS posted their first win of the pre season campaign on Tuesday when they beat a Salisbury City XI at the Portway in a match billed as being the club's 125th anniversary celebration.

While Andover played with almost a full squad plus a couple of useful trialists, Salisbury, with the Swindon Town friendly 24 hours later, arrived with one retired ex-first teamer, a clutch of trialists and reserves and a small army of young substitutes who looked as if they had been borrowed from the skateboard park next door.

While disappointing for the home crowd, they were treated to a full contact match where Mick Catlin's squad showed that it had the potential to be competitive come August, in the Southern League.

Vinnie Rusher was paired up front with young striker Stewart Gates who immediately caught the eye with his first touch and with Neil Champion prompting behind them and wing back Gary Connolly getting forward it was not long before the account was opened. Rusher and Mick Turvey combined and when Champion hit a peach of a cross field pass to Connolly, his first time cross was nodded home by Dean Stow with five minutes showing on the clock.

Visiting keeper Patrick Kinsella's night got worse seven minutes later when Connolly slung over another cross and it took a slight deflection before bouncing over him and in to the far corner. Any thoughts of a rout were put aside as Salisbury came back and Tom Clarke's cross was nodded in by an unchallenged Josh Digby.

With tackles beginnning to bite in midfield Salisbury upped the tempo and Clarke took advantage of a slip before being sent crashing in the area by Champion and the exotically named Elliott Osborne-Ricketts tucked away the equaliser from the spot just before the half-hour.

By then Rusher and old war horse Tommy Widdrington had exchanged pleasantries and the local man was booked for getting on the referee's case once too often.

Dave Hook showed he was still in prime form with a superb tip over from a Jonathan Davies dipper while Rusher was just kept out near the break as his goal bound flick was blocked.

After the break when, presumably, the visiting subsitutes were given warm milk and rusks, both sides were changed around, with Lions introducing the likes of Danny Sullivan, Kyle Swayne, Brynley McKie who showed he could become a key player this season on the flank, and trialist Toure Mameouba, who also did not look out of place.

Ironically, the winner came from another mistake from keeper Kinsella whose missed fly-hack left Gates with an empty net against his old side, and he obliged.