We excited the Meadowbank crowd on Tuesday night, as a diligent 4-2 victory helped us progress through an FA Cup 3rd Round Qualifying replay against travelling Salisbury.

After an intense 90 minutes away in Wiltshire on Saturday, we finally got the job done through a spectacular Alfie Rutherford brace and goals from both Jimmy Muitt and Jason Prior. Despite persistent effort from the visitors, our quartet of goals was enough to secure a fixture in the next round against Aldershot Town.

Ahead of this game, Manager Marc White made two changes to the lineup which started in Wiltshire. Both Brennan Camp and Frank Vincent joined the team, replacing Jordan Norville-Williams and Dan Gallagher.

The match started in almost identical fashion to the end-to-end football we finished with in Wiltshire. Our heavy pressure was responded to instantly, as Josh Keeya struck the post for the visitors in the third minute. Fortunately, Noah Phillips in goal was there to sweep up any remaining danger.

However, an opening came just nine minutes later, as Josh Taylor’s launched throw into the opposing penalty area was prevented by a Salisbury stray hand. With no hesitation, the referee pointed straight to the spot to reward us with a penalty, which Jason Prior tucked neatly into the bottom left corner. 1-0

Our number nine almost grabbed a brace soon after, when his caressed shot rippled the bottom corner. Unfortunately, the linesman waved his flag for offside to deny Prior’s elation.

The early opener spurred our dominance for the rest of the half. Alfie Rutherford earned two excellent opportunities to extend our lead, but as one fired over the crossbar and the other was stopped by Buse, the scoreline was left unchanged.

After squandering those two inviting chances in front of goal, Rutherford finally got his goal on the stroke of half-time. Brennan Camp’s thumped pass over the top was flicked on by Prior, which Rutherford scurried onto and looped over the goalkeeper’s head into the net. 2-0

Half-Time: Dorking Wanderers 2-0 Salisbury

The second half started with a bang. From the off, Salisbury drove the ball forwards through Tommy-Lee Higgs, the attacker then cut inside on his right foot and fired his strike past Noah Phillips into the net to pull one back for the visitors. 2-1

Straight from the reset, we responded exceptionally. A flick on from Frank Vincent’s throw-in found the feet of captain James McShane, who then spread the play out wide to Jimmy Muitt. The winger then found himself in a brilliant position and drilled his shot into Salisbury’s bottom left corner to retain our two-goal advantage in the 47th minute. 3-1

The visitors pursued their attempts to dent our lead with 20 minutes to go, but the resilient defensive pair of Louis Storey and Frank Vincent extracted all danger with some composed interceptions.

Rutherford had an enticing opportunity to claim his second of the night when substitute Jordan Norville-Williams whipped in a precise cross into the box, but the striker’s header towards goal landed straight into the goalkeeper’s arms.

However, our number 10 didn’t have to wait much longer for that brace. After the goalkeeper handled the ball outside the box, Dennon Lewis teed up the awarded free-kick to Rutherford, who then arrowed the ball through Salisbury’s wall to find the bottom left corner with 13 minutes to go. 4-1

The visitors weren’t bowing out without a fight. In the 84th minute, Salisbury capitalised on Phillips’ rebound, as Noah Coppin picked up the ball and struck it into the top corner from close-range. 4-2

After a lengthy seven minutes of additional time, we managed to evade Salisbury’s continuous threat and secure a place in the next round of FA Cup Qualifying.

Full-Time: Dorking Wanderers 4-2 Salisbury

The win means we have now secured a fixture at home to Aldershot Town in the 4th Round Qualifying, set to be played on Saturday 11th October. But prior to that, we turn towards Chelmsford City away in the National League South on Saturday.

Written by Tom Booth