Salford City tasted their first league defeat since early December in a 2-0 loss to Fleetwood at home.
The two-and-a-half-week break for the visitors seemed to work wonders as they came out of the blocks with a point to prove.
Straight from kick-off, Fleetwood were awarded a freekick from distance, and the lofted set-piece sparked panic in the Salford box as the home side failed to clear their lines. Ronan Coughlan capitalised on The Ammies’ indecision, firing through the crowd to put the visitors in front just a minute into the contest.
Smelling blood after Salford’s slow start, Pete Wild’s men maintained their early intensity and gave The Ammies no time to breathe. When Salford successfully played through the press and created chances, they failed to test goalkeeper Jay Lynch.
Just after the opening ten, Fleetwood had another when Brendan Wiredu rose highest to meet an inswinging corner and headed the ball over Young to double the visitor’s advantage.
A shift in atmosphere was felt around the ground as the game resumed. Fleetwood looked like scoring with every attack, while Salford failed to conjure an immediate response.
Fleetwood were denied a third by some last-defending before Jon Taylor came close to reducing the arrears, firing just wide at the half-hour mark.
As the half wound down, so did Fleetwood’s tempo as Salford came close through veteran midfielder Matty Lund.
Returning from the break, Fleetwood still kept their relentless approach to the match, constantly chasing Salford down.
A stop-start opening to the second-half prevented The Ammies from building pressure. Robinson’s side were unable to force their way into the ascendancy playing high-possession football due to the slow, broken-up nature of the game.
With the entire Salford team growing frustrated with the pace of the play, the tension finally boiled over as Kylian Kouassi and Rhys Bennett had an off-ball altercation.
Both players had hands on one another resulting in both sets of players attempting to separate the two.
When things simmered down the referee decided to penalise both players with a yellow card; this was Kouassi’s second yellow meaning Salford had to finish the match with a man down.
After three minutes of additional time, referee David Rock blew and end to the contest as Salford’s win run came to an end at home.
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