Seeing the Light

By: Andrew Doherty
Date: 12/10/2024

THE weather for today's outing to Manchester was cold and autumnal. A tram ride and a 30-minute walk from Crumpsall station through Bury Road suburbia took me to Salford's Moor Lane Peninsula stadium.

The stadium is neat and compact, and sits unassumingly in the middle of a street. The media is no longer interested in Salford FC, as Gary Neville's plaything has been overtaken in the artificial glamour stakes by the American razzamatazz of Wrexham and Birmingham City. I can't imagine that there was ever much glamour here. It just seemed too humble for that.

On the football side of things, the midweek kickabout in the Stupid Cup with Lincoln doesn't count, and last Saturday's home defeat by Doncaster shouldn't have affected the players' confidence as it's just one result but you never know with footballers. With five wins and five losses we were handily placed at the start. Salford we're below us in the table but have been winning their home games, albeit by narrow margins. There was certainly nothing to fear. Today was like a home game anyway with Town's allocation of 1,372 being sold in advance, in a crowd of 3,608 where the home support was quiet.

The Town starting line-up today was: Smith - Cass, Tharme, McJannet, Hume - Svanthorsson, McEachren, Khouri, Barrington - Rose, Gardner. It looked like there was an attacking intent.Town wore yellow and red today. It's the time of year where afternoons are starting to get darker and floodlights come on. In recent years this has mean a downturn in Town's results. We were now about to find out if Town would flourish or flounder in the autumn dusk.

As kick-off time came, it had clouded over and the wind was colder than earlier. It started to rain. The lights were turned on in the stands and then the floodlights came on. Town kicked off. After 54 seconds the ball was played upfield. Rose, in the box, saw Barrington advancing on the left. Rose received and passed the ball into the right corner. Salford 0, Town 1. Austerfield and Kouassi had chances for Salford after Town hesitation but Smith made a save for the first and the second shot went wide. Cass did well to chase down the rapid N'Mai, conceding a corner. The ball came out. McAlany's shot was well saved, but the ball wasn't cleared. A cross came in from the right and Stockton headed home on 13 minutes.1 -1. Town's goal was now under siege. Tharme did well to stop Kouassi 6 yards out. Town had an attack on 19 minutes. Svanthorsson linked up with Rose but the cross was poor and Gardner had no chance of controlling his header. The lightening N'Mai beat Cass on 22 minutes but McEachren managed to deny Salford's latest attack. Salford were on top. Town countered on 22 minutes. Rose's shot from outside the box was tipped over. Hume then started a move and found Khouri who played a lovely cross field pass to Svanthorsson. The pass across the face of the goal beat everyone. McAlany was booked for elbowing McEachren in the face. From the free kick Hume crossed. Rose couldn't control the ball and Gardner wasn't in position to anticipate the loose ball. On 31 minutes Stockton missed a golden chance after a mistimed back header by McEachren. Great work by Hume sent Gardner forward but the cross was too strong, not for the first time this afternoon. As the sun came out, Gardner was fouled. The same player received the ball but his shot was weak. It was an open game. On 36 minutes Hume was provider for Rose who fell over on the edge of the box but the referee wasn't interested. A minute later Town started a great move which only stalled when Khouri's pass struck the referee. Salford came back out with the ball and attacked. Tharme did outstandingly well to shield Kouassi away from the goal. The rain returned. Smith then saved from McAlany. Nice work by Khouri set up an attack after 43 minutes. Gardner pushed forward but was bowled over 25 yards out. Hume spotted a gap but fired wide. Two minutes were added to the half. Khouri started a move, finding Svanthorsson. Town passed the ball about with intent as they looked to breach the defence. Svanthorsson received the ball back and passed to Barrington who saw an opportunity and shot. The ball deflected off a defender and looped into the net. Salford 1,Town 2 was the half time score. Although Salford were quick and looked dangerous at times, Town were playing enterprising football, competing for the ball and defending well when needed.

Salford started the second half on the attack. Smith pulled off a great save from a Taylor piledriver. Salford continued to apply the pressure. Town's defence was standing firm. The floodlights were proving surplus to requirements as there was blue in the sky now. Town had an attack on 52 minutes as Svanthorsson threaded a pass through. Town attacked in numbers but McEachren's cross was too long for Gardner on the left. Four minutes later Rose and Svanthorsson instigated an attack. Rose was fouled 20 yards out. Barrington's delivery was poor. Salford came close on 59 minutes after McJannet struggled under pressure from Kouassi, but Garbutt messed up his shot. Ainley replaced the injured McEachren on 60 minutes. Salford responded by going on the attack immediately but Austerfield couldn't bring the ball under control. N'Mai once again did his magic for Salford, weaving and setting up an Ashley shot. The shot went wide. On 66 minutes Warren replaced Svanthorsson in a defensive switch. Cass joined Tharme and McJannet in central defence. Town battled on, and pressure from Rose on 66 minutes earned Town a throw deep in the Salford half. Town lost possession but Khouri took charge, starting a passing move which ended when Ainley committed a foul. N'Mai was instrumental in winning a corner for Salford but Town stood firm, clearing the threat easily. Town continued to play football and pressure Salford when on the ball. On 72 minutes Khouri won the ball in midfield but was scythed down by Austerfield who received a yellow card. The ball was played forward to McJannet of all people whose attempted chip over Salford keeper Jones almost succeeded. On 79 minutes Town brought on Wilson, Pyke and Carson as replacements for Rose, Gardner and Barrington. Salford attacked. McJannet fouled Kouassi and received a yellow card. Woodburn shot straight at the wall. Salford kept shooting. Town kept blocking and tackling. Even Wilson got in on the act with a tackle to stop Salford advancing. On 86 minutes Salford won a corner. Smith saved from Mnoga. The ball came back out. Kouassi had space. His shot pinged off the left hand post. Khouri was then booked for fouling N'Mai in the corner. Smith punched the cross clear. Seven minutes were added. All the action was now in Town's half. Carson received a yellow card for a foul on Ashley as Salford charged forward. Kouassi wasted a chance from Woodbury's free-kick. 97 minutes were up. A Tharme block resulted in a Salford corner. Salford's keeper went up. Desperate times for Salford. Across came the corner. The ball was cleared, and Town won a throw-in. Town's fans celebrated. Moments later there were even wilder celebrations as the referee blew his whistle and the game ended: Salford City 1, Grimsby Town 2. The sky was blue. The sun shone on Grimsby.

Town hung on in the end after facing a barrage of 15 Salford attempts against Town's one in the second half. One came off the post so Town could consider themselves lucky while Salford lacked composure and wasted a lot of chances. But this doesn't tell the story. Town continued to play football for the first 20 minutes of the second period and sought to ease the pressure by playing the ball upfield. Once again Mr Artell managed the substitutions well, bringing on fresh players who could fight for the team. Before the kick-off the song "Dirty Old Town" was played over the PA. Four Town players received yellow cards against Salford's three. The game was physical with spirited tackling from both sides and the yellow cards came from failure to deal with bursts of pace. Above all Town were spirited in defence and overall as a team, blocking and tackling, and putting Salford under pressure. But this wasn't the only side of it as Town showed their creative side with Khouri, Hume and Svanthorsson in particular supplying Town's danger man Rose. And Barrington was on hand to score twice. Of course there were some overhit crosses, and Gardner needs to develop an understanding with Rose, but this was a well-managed team performance today, resulting in our sixth league win. On this mixed day of weather, I could see the light emerging brightly as Town show visible signs of the much-promised improvement.

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