SALISBURY Men's Hockey slipped to their fifth defeat of the season following a 4-0 home defeat to rivals Gillingham.
Salisbury, who were missing seven first team regulars, went behind midway through the first half when Tom Brady appeared to have been fouled inside the Salisbury D. The ball then fell to a Gillingham player whose cross was turned into the bottom corner.
Salisbury created few chances in the first half, the best one falling to Rory sheriff, which was saved comfortably by the Gillingham keeper.
Salisbury continued to have the majority of possession in the second half but two quick goals, through poor defending and some controversial umpiring, killed the game off. Salisbury paid the price for not taking their chances and went on to concede a fourth.
Captain Andy Renshaw said: "It's never nice to lose, but our heads went down after their goal which was really disappointing because it's probably the first time that's happened this season. We will look to bring back some of our missing players for next week and hopefully start to open the gap to third place again."
Salisbury Under-18s secured a 3-1victory over Andover.
The ten-man team kept the pressure on and the first half ended at 2-1 with goals from Jacomb Hansford and James Wade.
Tom Kuhle scored a third to wrap-up the victory.
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