Salford City football Club

A bullet header from Ian Henderson on the stroke of half-time earned Salford City 3 points from a hard-fought tussle. The Ammies dominated first-half possession but had some defending to do after the break as the Valiants applied some pressure. In the end though home keeper Václav Hladký was hardly to be tested as Richie Wellens’ side secured another clean sheet and a win that takes them back into the League Two play-off positions.

After a couple of so-so performances the pack was shuffled, starting at the back where fit-again Tom Clarke replaced Ash Eastham on the right-hand side of the back three. Ibou Touray was back, in place of Robbie Gotts and Richie Towell stepped in for James Wilson.

There were a couple of familiar faces in Vale’s starting line-up as former Ammies Danny Whitehead & Devante Rodney returned to their old stamping ground.

An increasingly chilly evening followed on the heels of a fine, sunny day and on-field events would soon begin to warm up. Vale’s James Gibbons took only 4 minutes to get his name in the referee’s notebook, courtesy of an uncontrolled challenge on Paul Coutts.

The game’s first chance came along soon afterwards as Di’Shon Bernard’s raking pass picked out Touray on the left. A squared ball inside was met by Brandon Thomas-Asante who hit a low 20-yarder just wide of Scott Brown’s right-hand post.

The Valiants were forced into a change after just 9 minutes as injured Cristian Montano was replaced by Alex Hurst.

Salford were getting on top by that stage and Richie Towell tried an ambitious pass from a yard inside the Vale half. Henderson was inches away from getting on to the end of that one as he raced towards the penalty area.
In the 14th minute Thomas-Asante worked the ball through to Jason Lowe whose thumping 20-yarder from just right of centre took a deflection before running harmlessly through to Brown in the Vale goal.

Vale’s first attacking contribution arrived almost instantly as Whitehead broke into space on the right, only for his cross to drop over Hurst at the far post. The visitors went rather closer minutes later after Nathan Smith met a long ball into the box with a first-time effort that went behind off the outside of Hladký’s left-hand upright.

This was a decent spell for the Valiants and Hurst made it into the area before pulling a pass back into the path of skipper Tom Conlon. Di’Shon Bernard got in a block and despite loud handball appeals from Vale’s players the referee waved play on.

A decent opening 20 minutes and the game went end-to-end for a while without either side managing to create a clear opening. In the 29th minute Coutts found Hunter on the left and he whipped a cross into the box. Henderson got there ahead of Leon Legge with a flicked 10-yard header that was smartly saved by Brown.

Ten minutes before the break Towell’s forward pass found Henderson, who beat he offside trap to carry possession into the area. Hunter collected a lay-off to the left before lashing an angled effort into the side netting.

There was a second injury blow for Vale soon after as Gibbons was replaced by Shaun Brisley.

The game continued in muscular fashion, although it had turned a little bit scrappy as the first-half drew to a close. The Ammies had dominated possession again and created a couple of chances, yet Vale had looked lively whenever they crossed the halfway line.

In the final minute of the first half Hunter lost possession in midfield, with Rodney breaking into space on the right. The former Salford forward cut inside one challenge only to be surprised as a heavy touch allowed Hladký to scoop up the ball before any damage could be done. The home keeper initiated a quick counter-attack, with Hunter finding himself in a little space on the left. The cross was a peach and HENDERSON evaded the attention of Vale’s defence to meet the ball on the run, powering a bullet header between Brown and his left-hand post.

The goal had come a little bit against the run of play but clinical finishers are worth their weight in gold, and Henderson’s header came right out of the top quality drawer.

HALF-TIME: SALFORD CITY 1 PORT VALE 0

Not a classic first half and the second started off in much the same fashion as Lowe was booked for a heavy challenge.

In the 52nd minute Hunter curled a wicked cross from the left, with the ball scooped over the bar by a defender as it dropped into the 6-yard box.

The Ammies had the ball in the net within another 60 seconds only for Henderson to be penalised for handball.
At the other end Whitehead couldn’t get a clean strike of the ball after a corner had dropped for him. Vale were attempting to press, yet despite having plenty of possession were being held at bay by an organised Salford defence.

There was a handball shout against Vale 21 minutes from time after Thomas-Asante’s shot was blocked, but once again the referee was unconvinced.

All-in-all not a huge amount of attacking action and Vale manager Darrell Clarke made 3 changes in the 71st minute. On came Jake Taylor, Mark Cullen & Kurtis Guthrie, with Whitehead, Luke Joyce & Theo Robinson making way for them.

Those substitutions didn’t have much of an impact and the game continued in its hard-fought but unspectacular progress. Thirteen minutes from time Touray made ground on the left before slipping a pass inside for Coutts. A quality ball into the left-hand side of the area found Thomas-Asante whose initially tricky footwork couldn’t prevent Brown from smothering the danger.

A couple of minutes later Hunter cut inside from the left flank before hitting a low 20-yarder wide of Brown’s right-hand post.

Robbie Gotts came on for Thomas-Asante for the final 8 minutes, with Mani Dieseruvwe replacing Hunter for the last 4.

Vale committed men forward in search of a late leveller and Conlon’s squared ball to the right was met by Smith, on the run, on the edge of the box and well right of centre. The shot was a disappointment as the ball spun across goal and yards wide of the far post.

Five minutes of added time started with a Conlon free-kick from the left but this time shouts for handball seemed more hopeful than justified.

In the 4th of those 5 minutes the lively Conlon threatened again, delivering a cross from the left that must have skimmed Cullen’s head at the near post. Once again though Hladký wasn’t forced to make a save and Salford cleared their lines for the final time.

FULL-TIME: SALFORD CITY 1 PORT VALE 0

A dour game decided by a moment of real quality, but Salford City won’t be particularly concerned that their evening lacked a little finesse. The division’s meanest defence did its job, restricting Vale to the odd half chance and home keeper Hladký didn’t have a single save to make. There were only a small handful of attempts on target, but all of them came from the Ammies.

With 15 league games left to play, Salford City are only 7 points off the division’s top spot and 5 from the automatic promotion places. All to play for, and we’d be more than happy with another 1-0 when Scunthorpe visit the Peninsula Stadium on Saturday…