Salisbury FC missed out on progressing to the fourth qualifying round in the FA Cup for the first time since its reformation after a poor performance against visiting Margate.
The 4-2 loss was littered with mistakes from the home side in the FA Cup third qualifying round on Saturday, which also meant the club took home £3,750 instead of over £11,000.
The Whites started fairly well and hopes of a good game started to build. One good chance for each team was followed by what should have been Salisbury’s first goal of the day.
Nathaniel Oseni threw himself at Josh Sommerton’s corner and should have scored, but his header went above the bar. Instead it was Margate who drew first blood after a series of sloppy passes from the home side.
The ball fell to Kandell Daniel who beautifully curled it into the net, out of reach for Gerard Benfield in goal. Although Salisbury held most of the ball, they had no dangerous chances to show for it except a free-kick just over the bar from Lewis Benson.
The feeling was that the Whites were still in it, a feeling that was crushed just seconds after the whistle was blown to start the second half. About 10 seconds in, Oseni aimed a no-look pass at his own goal without Benfield being in between the posts.
As Salisbury struggled to put any pressure on the visitors, Margate’s Noel Leighton added a third goal not long after. A good spell for the home side followed, but Shaquille Hippolyte-Patrick’s signature move to beat his man and cut in resulted in a save to corner.
Benson restored some hope with his free-kick on 59 minutes. From the left of the box he cleverly curved it mid-air, perhaps hoping for a flick, towards the far corner. It went straight in for 3-1.
But it was not Salisbury’s lucky day and only five minutes later, Margate’s Leighton added another with a shot that took two deflections – no chance for Benfield.
Hippolyte-Patrick scored the last goal of the day after a pass from Toby Holmes, which meant little in the grand scheme of things.
Margate deserved the win, but it never felt like Salisbury really challenged them. Passes were either too high, too short, too long or to the wrong address.