Brian Dutton’s side were again frustrated by a 10-man side and left Essex with a single point after leading against Hornchurch.
Hornchurch were reduced to 10 men when captain Ryan Scott was shown a straight red card for fouling Lewis Brown, who was in on goal. Callum Watts gave Salisbury the lead just before the interval, but Hornchurch grabbed a point when Darren McQueen levelled when Salisbury failed to clear a corner.
Salisbury started well and created some decent openings but didn’t truly test Mason Terry in the Hornchurch goal, but the visitors did enjoy the lion’s share of possession.
Callum Watts lifted one over the bar from the edge of the box early on, and Noah Coppin shot straight at Terry as he cut in from the left-hand side.
Lewis Brown called the keeper into the first real action as he stung his palms from the edge of the box midway through the first half, with the rebound being cleared behind.
There were no complaints when Hornchurch were reduced to 10 men. Captain Ryan Scott was already heading for the changing rooms when Josh Crofts pulled his red card from his pocket. The centre-back had miscontrolled the ball, allowing Brown to get the wrong side of him. He tripped the Salisbury midfielder as he went through on goal, leaving Crofts little choice.
Salisbury looked to take advantage of the extra man and took the lead as the game headed towards halftime. Callum Watts broke the offside trap, latched on to a Josh Sommerton through ball and rolled the ball home when under pressure to make it one-nil with 44 minutes on the clock.
The early stages of the second half saw Salisbury hold a lot of possession without causing the home side much danger. Dan Fitchett had a shot from a distance early on, but it was straight at Terry.
Hornchurch grew in confidence and were working hard to make up for the man deficit – Tom Wraight seemed to be everywhere in midfield, and substitutes Liam Nash, George Saunders, and Darren McQueen were willing runners.
The home side levelled when Salisbury failed to clear a corner; the ball rebounded off Jaden Perez and fell for Darren McQueen on the edge of the 6-yard-box; he swivelled and smashed the ball past Rhys Byrne with 11 minutes of the 90 remaining.
There were half chances for Salisbury, three coming in quick succession as the game headed for full-time. First Callum Watts did well to wriggle free in the box, his shot was half blocked and fell to Dan Fitchett who tried to hit one on the turn, that was also blocked and Cameron Coxe then fired over from the edge of the box.
Hornchurch had a chance to steal all three points at the end, but McQueen scuffed his effort a little, and Byrne could gather fairly comfortably at his near post.
It means Salisbury remain unbeaten in seven but have now drawn three successive games against teams with 10 men.
Up next for Salisbury is the visit of local rivals Bemerton Heath Harlequins to the Ray Mac on Tuesday evening.
Tickets for the match are available online – https://www.salisburyfc.co.uk/tickets/
