Truro City Baffled by Salisbury's Late Winner
Truro City walked off the pitch shaking their heads. Salisbury walked away with the points.
An eighth-minute strike from Josh Hedges was enough to seal a 1-0 win for the visitors in National League South, on a night when Truro did almost everything but score.
John Askey could barely hide his disbelief.
“It’s difficult to sum it up,” the Truro boss told BBC Radio Cornwall. “Obviously we conceded a goal early, that gave them something to cling on to. We’ve done everything but put the ball in the back of the net.”
The game followed a maddening pattern. Truro saw more of the ball, especially after the break, and repeatedly worked good positions. Cross after cross, ball after ball into the Salisbury box. Little to show for it.
Salisbury, by contrast, struck early and then dug in. Hedges’ goal settled them, and they almost doubled the lead before half-time when a fierce effort crashed against the crossbar. After the interval, Jordan Alonge clipped the post as Truro pushed higher and left gaps.
The hosts still carved out chances. Will Dean went close in the second half, one of several near-misses that drew groans from the home support rather than cheers. The pressure built, the territory mounted, but the net refused to bulge.
“It’s just baffling sometimes when you have so much possession and so many balls going into the box, and it just didn’t fall at all for us tonight,” Askey said.
The defeat, only Truro’s second in the league this season, drops them to seventh. Salisbury’s resilience and early breakthrough lift them up to fourth, underlining their sharpness in both boxes.
What will sting more for Truro is the timing. This result comes straight after a flat 1-1 home draw with Walton & Hersham on Saturday.
“Saturday I was frustrated because I thought we played poorly,” Askey admitted. “Today I thought we played quite well, but it was just that final finish, and there were times when we should have finished and should have hit the back of the net, and we haven’t.”
Then came the line that summed up his night.
“I don’t think you’ll see as many balls going into the opposition’s box as what you saw tonight probably for the rest of the season.”
Truro have their structure. They have their territory. They have their patterns of play. What they need now, brutally and urgently, is a finish.
