A beautiful sunny day and a half price promotion at York Road set the scene for the Magpies to take the three points which would take them to the brink of safety from relegation. Needless to say a disciplined performance from visitors Salisbury turned this scenario on its head, once again exposing United's impotence in the opposition penalty area as for the third game in a row the Magpies drew a blank.
A whiff of Premier League glamour was given to proceedings by referee Sian Massey but in contrast to previous weeks she never looked likely to display a red card to anybody in a black and white shirt.
Maidenhead started positively. Kicking down the York Road slope, with Jermaine Hinds sat in front of the defence the rest of the midfield was able to assist the attack, but for all the admirable approach play United were unable to conjure up a decent chance. Thus as United's dominance faded Salisbury took charge of the game scoring in the twentieth minute when Stuart Sinclair burst into the penalty area and beat Billy Lumley with a shot which initially hit the post before ending up in the back of the net.
With sole striker Robbie Matthews causing United's defence enough problems for two frontmen, only the save of the season from Lumley kept the deficit to one at the break, the stopper pulling off a superb diving save when seemingly unsighted from a Ben Adelsbury long shot.
After the break Maidenhead showed great endeavour in their quest for an equaliser but as they committed more players forward Salisbury looked as likely to score on the counter attack. The best opportunity for a Maidenhead goal came just after the hour mark when a corner led to a goal mouth scramble. The ball was scraped off the line twice and this rearguard action proved to be enough to secure all three points for the Whites as despite continuing attacking intentions, Maidenhead only went close once more when Mark Nisbet diverted an Alex Wall free kick past the post.
The result leaves Maidenhead three places and three points clear of relegation, looking forward to a tumultuous Easter Saturday fixture at Staines. With scoring the key problem for the Magpies it looks like being a tense drawn out end to the season unless they continue where they left off in March against their two toughest opponents Dartford and Woking.
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