A spirited home performance against a fresh Gillingham side was only enough for a Salford City point as a Remeao Hutton equaliser capped off a first half flurry in a 2-2 draw.
The affair got off to a flyer after Haji Mnoga bit off more than he could chew, losing possession to Max Clark who slipped Elliott Nevitt in, his deflected shot fired the Gills one up inside 90 seconds.
But a rejuvenated Ammies side were far from beaten, as top scorer Cole Stockton snatched his 14th league goal this campaign, meeting Ben Woodburn’s near post cross only five minutes later.
And the balance of the fixture continued to swing back and forth, the tension was more than palpable from the stands to the pitch, as Robinson’s men flexed their muscles in wide areas, exchanging some incredible pieces of interplay.
And it would soon prove fruitful, as Tyrese Fornah and Hakeeb Adelakun combined on the far left to tee up man of the match Kelly Nmai, who danced past two and slotted home from the edge of the box to give the reds the lead.
The Ammies continued to translate momentum into chances, Curtis Tilt’s header from Shephard’s pinpoint set play certainly the pick of the bunch.
But unbeaten in five, and Gareth Ainsworth hunting for his first win at the helm, the Kent side were anything but a write off, as Luke Garbutt switched off at 24 minutes, playing in Remeao Hutton who neatly cut onto his weaker left side and guided one beyond loanee Matty Young in goal.
A period of football painted in two different shades, the first half came to a close as captain Tilt emerged top of the tree in his forward venture to plate up Stockton, who’s chest-controlled volley was matched by an emphatic stop from Glenn Morris in the sticks.
The second half would have a much different flavour to it, apart from an early handball shout for Salford city which was hastily and controversially waved away by referee Will Finnie, much to the dismay of the home support.
Nevertheless, Kelly Nmai’s relentlessness was a game-long joy, as his infiltration to the byline was cut out by Conor Masterson before Fornah’s edge of the box effort rose just shy of the bar.
But Karl Robinson praised his team’s efforts post-match, he said: “I think our effort has been outstanding, when you look at this week and when you have to keep wheeling the same players out onto the football pitch.
“We just didn’t have that cutting edge in the final third, and when you go into these games with key players not fit, you’re always a bit tired trying to find that little bit of something different from the bench.”
A point today leaves Salford City unbeaten in four, and seven points away from the playoff spots with six games to go.
Recent Comments