Salford City football Club

The Ammies recorded their first win in 7 league outings as Ian Henderson’s brace secured victory at the New Lawn. Gary Bowyer’s side deserved the 3 points after dominating for most of the afternoon, restricting promotion hunting Forest Green Rovers to a couple of late – and modest – efforts on target. Newport County’s unexpected victory over Bolton Wanderers maintains the 5 point that separates Salford City from the play-off places, but the manner of this win will surely boost confidence in the Ammie camp.

On Saturday it’s probably fair to say that Salford only came to life for the final 10 minutes, so it was no surprise that the XI who finished the draw with Grimsby started this game. That meant Tom Clarke, Ash Hunter and Mani Dieseruvwe missing out, with recalls for Paul Coutts, Robbie Gotts and Richie Towell.

A bright and breezy Easter Monday afternoon in Gloucestershire as two teams who have been out of sorts over recent weeks got the game underway. Rovers would be second best for most of the 90 minutes, yet they probably shaded the first 10 or so, at least in terms of attacking possession.

In the 6th minute Nicky Cadden’s lofted free-kick from a deep position dropped into the area, possibly skimming off a Rovers head before being collected by Václav Hladký. Not the clearest cut of chances, but it would be all that the opening quarter of an hour yielded.

The swirling wind was proving a touch disruptive, and it was Salford who settled into their stride first. A long diagonal ball from Towell dropped for Henderson on the edge of the penalty area, only for the Salford striker to be crowded out. An attempted clearance came back off a white shirt and this time Henderson found space to lift in an 18-yard left of centre effort that home keeper Lewis McGee saved and held.

The Ammies were having some decent possession in the home side’s half, but chances at either end were slow to materialise. In the 21st minute Brandon Thomas-Asante looked to latch onto a ball played to the edge of the area, only to be muscled out as Chris Stokes got in to prod a pass back to the keeper.

Thomas-Asante could have broken the deadlock 3 minutes later after Towell and Gotts had moved possession to the right. This time the former MK Don got into the box, only for Stokes to get across at speed, blocking his 8-yard angled effort on goal.

Good defending from the Rovers skipper and there would be a chance at the other end just before the half-hour. Cadden’s left-flank corner dropped beyond the far post for Ebou Adams to get in a volley that crashed into a white-shirted defender.

The Ammies were the better side by this stage of the game, looking more composed than their opponents and carrying some threat when they pushed forward. Even so, clear-cut opportunities were proving hard to come by until the breakthrough came on 38 minutes.

A ball forward was nodded on by Thomas-Asante and HENDERSON didn’t hesitate, hitting a first-time 25-yarder from left of centre that dropped just inside McGee’s right-hand post. A pacey effort that gave the keeper no chance and Salford City had recorded their first first-half goal in 7 games.

A great finish from the Ammies’ leading scorer and the home side’s efforts to find a leveller before the break came to nothing.

HALF-TIME: FOREST GREEN ROVERS 0 SALFORD CITY 1

A poor first half for Mark Cooper’s side and they looked keen to redress the balance as the second got underway. Oscar Threlkeld was booked for a foul on the advancing Kane Wilson within a minute of the restart, yet the free-kick came to nothing and Rovers’ early second half possession would suffer much the same fate.

Salford’s defence has rarely let them down, remaining the division’s meanest despite the recent run of disappointing results. Forest Green were already looking short of inspiration, ideas and – maybe – confidence as well.

In the 50th minute a strong right-flank run from Udoka Godwin-Malife was finished off by a squared ball across the 6-yard box. There was no green shirt near enough to get a touch and Salford right-back Jason Lowe was able to usher the ball to safety beyond the far post.

At the other end Thomas-Asante chased a high Threlkeld ball to the edge of the penalty area where he nudged a header past the recklessly advancing McGee. Forced wide to the right by that touch Thomas-Asante was quickly closed down by Stokes who deflected an attempt to turn the ball back inside behind for a corner.

Adams was booked for a high-footed challenge on Towell that fortunately didn’t make contact with the Salford midfielder as Rovers’ frustrations began to show.

In the 66th minute Thomas-Asante moved inside from the right before sliding a pass into the left-hand side of the box for Henderson. A weighted low delivery across the face of goal bypassed McGee at the near post, yet the incoming Gotts arrived just too late to provide a finishing touch.

The game had gone a little quiet in terms of goalmouth activity, yet the Ammies looked as comfortable as a team can on the back of a one-goal lead. Their forays forward carried more menace that Rovers who too often relied on a punt that went nowhere. A stark change for the side who played so much good football at the Peninsula earlier this season, and were very unlucky to take just a single point back home with them.

Even so, the Ammies needed another goal and the substitution that would provide it was made with 15 minutes to play. George Boyd replaced Gotts, making his first appearance since the win at Scunthorpe in mid-January.

It took just a couple of minutes for him to make his mark, combining with Threlkeld to mug Elliott Whitehouse out of possession inside the Rovers’ half. A run to the left-hand angle of the area came next, followed by a dream of a cross towards the far post. HENDERSON arrived ahead of a defender to meet the cross with a deft 5-yard finish that beat McGee to effectively wrap up the points.

Great football from Salford, both in terms of determination to regain possession then turning it into an incisive attack, great delivery and a fine finish.

You can never count your chickens of course, but that goal seemed to have killed off Rovers’ ambitions of taking any reward from the game. Salford got men behind the ball when they needed to, put their challenges in efficiently and looked absolutely determined not to give anything away.

Six minutes from time Cadden had a sight of goal, yet from somewhere around the left-hand angle of the box could only lift an effort high over the crossbar. At the other end Henderson had a go from the right-hand angle of the penalty area and although he got the effort on target, McGee was well positioned to make a simple catch at the near upright.

Clarke replaced Towell for the 5 minutes of time added on, but during the 2nd of them Rovers nearly unlocked the visiting defence. Whitehouse threaded a good pass into the penalty area, with Jake Young looking to make something of it until Jordan Turnbull slid in with an expertly timed challenge.

Substitute Aaron Collins curled in the left-flank corner, forcing Hladký to stretch and tip the ball away from underneath the crossbar.

In the last of those 5 minutes Jayden Richardson squared a pass in from the right, with Whitehouse getting in a clever flicked effort that Hladký smothered on the line.

Far too little much too late from the Rovers point of view, but Salford City were able to tuck 3 richly deserved points under their belt for the first time since Port Vale were beaten 1-0 on 2nd March.

FULL-TIME: FOREST GREEN ROVERS 0 SALFORD CITY 2

Something of a return to form for the Ammies following a worrying winless run that had left their promotion hopes in real jeopardy. Away form had been of particular concern, with two points taken from the last seven games played away from the Peninsula Stadium.

Forest Green Rovers are enduring their own torrid run of form, and at times were pretty abject this afternoon. Mark Cooper’s side remain one win outside the automatic promotion places, but they’ll have to improve considerably if their top-three place is to be regained.

A thoroughly professional performance from the Ammies, who scored two very good goal and could have added to their margin of victory. This was a very much improved showing, even from the first 80 minutes on Saturday, and the challenge now is to maintain the standard.

Back-to-back home games versus play-off outsiders Stevenage and automatic promotion hopefuls Bolton Wanderers lie in wait – the outcome of the season will look a little clearer after those games are played.

The chase is very much back on…