Tough week as Salisbury

Chesham United defeated Salisbury two goals to one at the Ray Mac, resulting in the away team’s second consecutive loss.

Ronan Silva gave Salisbury the early advantage, but Callum Adebiyi and Jo Grant gave Chesham a response.

Although Jordan Ragguette’s thundering long-range effort struck the underside of the bar and crossed the line, the referee Tom Ellsmore and his assistant did not think the Whites had equalised in the second half.

Following Saturday’s away loss to Tonbridge Angels, Brian Dutton made two changes to the starting lineup: Luke Wilkinson and Tom Leggett entered the starting 11.

Playing some tidy and incisive football right from the start, the home team quickly established a lead when Josh Hedges’ excellent through ball found Ronan Silva behind the Chesham defence in just the fifth minute.

With a left foot cutback, Silva’s shot swerved to the bottom corner, past Ben Goode.

Salisbury persisted in applying pressure and widening their lead, but few decisive opportunities were created. In the twenty-first minute, Hedges worked hard to create a chance, but his attempt from just beyond the box went straight at Goode.

Shortly after the half-hour mark, Chesham equalised after launching their first sustained onslaught, turning the tide against Salisbury.

After Ryan Gosney parried a threatening cross, Jo Grant was in the ideal location, and Grant finished well to square the score.

With 43 minutes remaining, Chesham appeared to be in control of the game, and Gosney had to make a fantastic stop to save Omar Rowe’s effort from finding the back of the net.

In the 44th minute, a corner was swung in from the right, and Callum Adebiyi headed home from six yards to give Chesham the lead. At halftime, they were ahead by two goals.

In the second half, Salisbury pressed for an equaliser, and on the hour, Ronan Silva almost got one when Goode tipped over his shot from the edge of the area.

The closest was Jordan Ragguette, whose shot from a full thirty yards out in the 79th minute cannoned off the underside of the bar, bounced, came back up, struck the bar again, and left goal empty.

After that, Goode made a great move to stop Craig Fasanmade from heading in the rebound.

Salisbury kept up the pressure. After 83 minutes, Josh Hedges slipped a ball in for Rafa Ramos, but Goode did a great job to smother it at the foot of the Salisbury striker.

A minute afterward, Fasanmade missed a superb cross from Ragguette with his header.

Chesham had a last-gasp opportunity to score a third, but Gosney easily stopped his header from a freekick that looped in from the left. The home crowd lost patience as the away team prevailed by a score of two goals to one.