SALISBURY’S manager believes his side “got out of jail” following their dramatic 2-1 win over Evesham in the play-off semi-final.

Whites boss Steve Claridge paid tribute to the club’s supporters after the tense clash and said they probably “dragged us through”.

The stadium erupted and players celebrated with the fans when Tommy Wright scored his 51st goal of the season from the spot with just two minutes left in extra time, earning the Whites a place in the play off final against Tiverton Town on Monday.

But Claridge said he felt the game could have gone either way, despite his side’s numerical advantage.

He told JournalSport: “Some nights you just think maybe it’s not our night.

“We've got out of jail, I think we've had a bit of luck.”

Evesham who played 80 minutes with 10-men certainly didn't go down without a fight and Claridge said: “You would have never of thought it was 11 against 10. They more than matched us.

“At the end it was a flick of a coin, they could have won it we could have won it.”

Salisbury had plenty of chances to put the game to bed but Evesham keeper Kevin Sawyer was in excellent form saving a penalty from Wright during the first period of extra time.

“I don’t know how we didn’t win the game in the first hour”, said Claridge.

"We did everything we had to do apart from put the ball in the back of the net.

“We have to finish and we have to make more of our chances and make sure that we finish the job.

“If we had done that they would have been long gone and it would have been no doubt that the game was over.”

Elliot Wheeler who suffered a nasty deep gash to his ankle should be available on Monday, Claridge said: “It’s stitches not a broken leg.

“Hopefully we can strap a shin pad over it, job done.”

As well as having Wheeler back in the squad, Claridge was hopeful of a return of Justin Bennett, who was an unused substitute in the game.

He said: “We might have one or two back, Bennett might be fit which would make a massive difference to us.”

A bumper crowd of 1,395 packed into the Ray Mac for the semi-final clash, and the Whites boss was pleased with the turn out.

“It was a great atmosphere,” he said.

“They really got behind us and, in the end, probably dragged us through.”

Claridge has also called for fans to flock back to the ground on Monday for the final.

“I just hope everyone who didn’t come tonight comes down and makes it a fantastic day,” he said.