A SUCCESSFUL double header for Salisbury Hockey Club Men’s firsts on Saturday set-up a Hampshire Trophy final with Aldershot and Farnham.

The Lower Bemerton outfit eased past Weymouth in the quarter-final, thanks to braces from Rory MacTaggart and Andy Renshaw and a goal for youngster Chris Pearl in a 5-2 win.

Later that day, Salisbury took on Southampton in the semi-final.

A Steve Booth penalty corner early on gave Salisbury a deserved lead, but it was Southampton that started to have more of the game, the scores were soon level again after a smart move but Salisbury’s top scorer Tom Morton restored their advantage with a deflected strike from another penalty corner. Some great work from Akram Ghauri down the right hand side opened up the Southampton defence before he brilliantly played in Mike Gallagher to sweep home from six yards.

Southampton found a way back into the game as Salisbury tired when a neat move found a Southampton defender unmarked at the back post who tapped in to make it 3-2. Salisbury could have avoided a nervy finish but Henry Smith, somehow, sent his effort wide from less than a yard, it didn’t prove to be costly.

Skipper Renshaw said: “Our performance level was really good considering we’ve had a couple of weeks off.

“We scored some really impressive goals, but we had to dig in against Southampton, especially as they play in a higher league. We showed we are more than good enough on our day to be successful at a higher level.”