Salford City football Club

For the first time in 16 months Salford City fans were able to watch their team in action at a football ground, and their overdue return was marked with a win. The pre-season campaign got off to a solid start, as Northern Premier League side Atherton Collieries were beaten 3-0 at their Skuna Stadium home. The bough of a tree had falled onto the changing rooms a couple of hours before kick-off, but fortunately no real damage was done and the game went ahead as planned.

A cloudy Saturday afternoon in Atherton would give way to persistent drenching rain, but the weather failed to dampen the spirits of Salford’s supporters who would make themselves heard throughout the 90 minutes.

Gary Bowyer had selected a very strong first-half XI and his charges would take less than 4 minutes to edge ahead. Josh Morris' slung over a cross from the left and Ian Henderson’s shot took a deflection to earn the Ammies a corner. Morris’s left-footed delivery dropped in from the right with Matty Lund heading back inside forHENDERSON to get up above a defender and nod a close-range finish past former Salford City keeper Danny Taberner.

A perfect start for the visitors and they would continue to dominate possession. With 13 minutes played Morris floated in a corner from the right, with central defender Jordan Turnbull getting in a header that dropped over the bar.

It wouldn’t be long before the Ammies extended their lead and in the 17th minute a cross from the right dropped beyond the far post, with Turnbull doing well to keep the ball in play. A short pass back inside followed and HENDERSON was on hand to slot home a low finish.

On the half-hour Morris carried the ball from deep before stroking a pass out to Conor McAleny. The former Oldham Athletic forward tried to curl an effort inside the far upright, only for the ball to drop wide.

Colls began to see a little bit more of the ball as the half drew to a close, but had little joy against a Salford defence that looks determined to emulate last season’s efficiency.

HALF-TIME: ATHERTON COLLIERIES 0 SALFORD CITY 2

It was all change for the Ammies at the break, with 4 trialists in an XI that included attacking pair Tom Elliot & Brandon Thomas-Asante.

Attacking down the slope Colls looked to get back into the game and came close to grabbing a goal just 4 minutes after the break. An attack down the right was finished off by a good cross to the far post where Elliot Rokka was inches away from getting a decisive touch with his head.

At the other end Tylor Golden’s cross from the right almost found Elliot, only for a home defender to get there first.

Colls were looking lively and Jack Lenehan displayed neat skills as he made room for a left-of-centre 20-yarder that was straight at the Ammies’ trialist keeper. He was called into action soon afterwards, plucking Scott Sephton’s 22-yard lob out of the air.

A decent spell for Atherton but Salford looked dangerous just past the hour as Luke Burgess showed typical tricky skills before flicking a pass out to Thomas-Asante on the right. The midfielder was on the end of the subsequent cross but could only guide a header wide of Taberner’s left-hand upright.

There were more promising attacking moves from Salford but it wasn’t until 8 minutes before the end that the 3rd goal arrived. Thomas-Asante was the architect, slipping a great pass into the right-hand side of the area for BURGESS to clip a cool finish past Taberner.

The game’s final opportunity went to the Ammies as Golden, Thomas-Asante, Elliot and Liam Loughlan combined to carve open the home defence. It would have made a memorable goal, but when the final ball came in, Burgess couldn’t quite get a touch on it.

FULL TIME: ATHERTON COLLIERIES 0 SALFORD CITY 3

A useful workout for Salford City, with a chance to see the players who have signed during the summer. There may be more new faces to come, for now this thoroughly professional performance will do.

The players haven’t had long together as a group and yet a fair degree of the gelling process already appears to have been completed. I

A final word for the fans – it was great to see lots of familiar faces at the football again – it hasn’t been anywhere near the same without you…