Karl Robinson hailed the “spirit” shown by his Salford players after Kallum Cesay netted a dramatic late winner as Salford City beat Crawley Town 4-3 to record their first league win in more than a month.
The Ammies’ return to winning ways meant they climbed back into the League Two play-off places.
Crawley began the game brightly, looking to build on an impressive 4-game unbeaten run, and went close to opening the scoring when Harry Forster drove a shot hard and low towards Matty Young, who parried the chance at Harry McKirdy.
You would have put your house on the number 13 to bury his chance with the goal at his mercy, but his shot soared over the crossbar.
Both sides traded chances as the first-half continued, with Matt Butcher hitting the side netting for Salford before Crawley dealt the first blow.
After 33 minutes, a ball was swung in to Jay Williams, who fired across goal and sliding defended Adebola Oluwo redirected the shot into his own net, putting the visitors in front.
Minutes later, play was brought to a halt as goalscorer Williams got a cut on his head following an aerial battle. The centre half carried on with a head bandage due to a cut.
Luke Garbutt came very close to levelling the contest. Salford’s captain struck the ball across goal, but Jojo Wollacott got down well to deny him as the home side ramped up the pressure.
The Ammies’ goal eventually came just before the break.
Butcher fizzed a ball towards the goal. Crawley only managed to clear it as far as Oluwo, who redeemed himself by blasting the ball past Wollacott to draw the game level.
As the players emerged from the tunnel and resumed the match, referee Martin Coy was almost instantly called into action.
A Crawley ball was pulled back to Forster, who was clipped by a Salford player before he could take aim at goal. Coy had no other choice but to award the spot kick.
McKirdy, looking to make amends for his earlier miss, stepped up to the plate.
He went for placement, looking to nestle the ball into the left corner. Matt Young guessed the correct way, however, parrying the ball out for a corner.
This chance proved to be costly for The Red Devils as, soon after, Jorge Grant curled a free-kick towards goal. It dropped to the feet of Butcher, who neatly tapped the ball at the inside of the post to put the Ammies ahead.
But on 57 minutes, Crawley were presented with a set piece of their own. Forster stood over the ball from an angle that no one would imagine he’d take on. But defiant to claw his side back into the match, the number seven struck the dead ball towards Young. The attempt generated enough power to push its way past the keeper and bring this contest level once more.
Back in their rhythm, Crawley were on the hunt for a winner.
A static Salford defence did not react in time to a whipped ball which was met by Williams once again, who headed into a 72nd-minute lead.
As the time dwindled Salford knew if they wanted to get anything from this match, they had to act fast. Breaking quickly on the counter, Salford passed their way towards the goal. Kadeem Harris lashed a cross inwards that was headed home by a diving Josh Austerfield to restore parity on 85 minutes.
The stadium lit up, the two thousand Salford fans kept roaring on, hoping to spur their side to a winner.
Salford snatched the ball from the kickoff. Austerfield weighed a pass perfectly to the feet of fellow substitute Cesay, who wrapped the ball around the keeper to win it for the Ammies.
Following the match, Robinson praised the determination his players showed to stage a remarkable comeback.
He said: “I always have belief in my team and today we kept the belief in what we were doing and won in a special way.
“It doesn’t get any better than that. I was made up for Kallum (Cesay) to score the winning goal because he has had a difficult few weeks.
“We have played better in our last two games, where we lost to MK Dons and Bromley and got nothing out of it, and today we have scored four goals at home.
“By hook or by crook, we have won today. In the other games where we played well and had more control, we lost.
“We want to be aggressive, relentless and entertaining. If you were to ask our fans, they would much rather see a performance like that than one where we sit deep, play negatively and pass the ball sideways. Today it paid off.”
Recent Comments