Salford City ended their six-game winless run by securing a hard-fought 1-0 win over fellow play-off challengers Grimsby Town.
Inside a gloriously sunny Blundell Park, second-half substitute Matty Lund emerged from the bench to earn Karl Robinson’s side their second victory since 4 January.
So often a source of inspiration for Salford, the veteran midfielder’s 82nd-minute header proved the difference between the two teams as The Ammies gave their slim hopes of a top-seven finish a boost.
In a stop-start first-half disrupted by persistent fouls, Grimsby settled well and looked more dangerous early on as Mariners’ captain Danny Rose turned Kieran Green’s cross into the side netting under pressure from Curtis Tilt.
Haji Monga drew Grimsby goalkeeper Jordan Wright into a smart reaction save as Salford grew into the contest before the interval.
Wright was forced into a double save early in the second half, stopping Luke Garbutt’s free-kick before the rebound fell to Tyrese Fornah on the edge of the box, whose rebound volley was goal-bound if not for the Grimsby stopper’s intervention.
Smelling blood, Salford continued to battle for a winning goal on the road and were repaid for their attacking intent when Lund won the game with his header at the near post from a corner looping over Wright and into the far side of the net with less than 10 minutes remaining.
Following the match, Robinson praised the decision made by his coaching staff to bring Lund off the bench, he said: “It was a brave decision from the staff to bring him [Lund] on because we were bringing off a striker for an attacking midfielder to play as a number-nine, but we felt our team had more goals with that set-up.
“It was a wonderful header [for the goal], but it felt like it went in slow-motion as it happened. I’m so pleased with the players’ attitude, and our goalkeeper has not had to make a save.”
However, Salford’s head coach was frustrated by his side’s wastefulness in the final third, “We don’t seem to quite have that killer edge when dominating teams, We’ve come on so much in the last 12 months, and the expectations have risen internally, so we want more even though we’ve won.
“I love this job and working with this team, but for that reason, I want to see them continue to improve. It’s only because we care so much that we feel so let down when the result doesn’t go our way.”
Back to winning ways 🙌
Thank you to everyone who was behind us in Grimsby ❤️ pic.twitter.com/aMH2GVs5ey
— Salford City FC (@SalfordCityFC) March 15, 2025
Recent Comments