Cup adventure overshadowed by leg break (From Salisbury Journal)

Cup adventure overshadowed by leg break

3:09pm Monday 11th September 2006 in Ladies By Sarah McQuillen

SALISBURY City ladies' debut FA Cup adventure was overshadowed when centre forward Nikki Barnes suffered a broken leg in what had been, up to then, an exciting and closely-fought match at Aldershot.

The striker sustained the horrific injury midway through the second half in an innocent collision with the Shots goalkeeper, from which the home side's player emerged completely unscathed.

The game had to be stopped for three quarters of an hour and, following Nikki's removal to the nearby Royal Frimley hospital, refocussing on the game was always going to be an uphill struggle for the Salisbury girls.

Manager Neville Beal explained: "It was a completely innocuous challenge. There was a through ball, the 'keeper got straight back up afterwards and Nikki didn't.

"After that, it put everything else in perspective."

The ladies' boss arranged an impromptu detour to the hospital on the way home so that her worried colleagues could pass on their good wishes in person.

He said: "We're waiting for news now but she'll certainly be out until Christmas, which is such a shame for her."

The Whites had made a lively start against Aldershot, a side two leagues above them, but despite dominating the game at times, were unlucky to go in 2-1 down at the break.

Laura Stone scored Salisbury's first, steering in a rebound off the post, following good work by Nikki.

Taz Pitman slotted home a penalty to make it two.

Beal added: "Up until Nikki's injury, it was all a great adventure for us.

"We were playing really well and in the first half, we looked the better side but the final result feels unimportant compared to what happened next."

Final score: Aldershot 3 Salisbury City 2.