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   Salford City 2 Cltheroe 3
There was a sense of anti-climax at Moor Lane this afternoon, with Salford slumping to their first home defeat in over six months just two days after dumping Chorley out of the FA Cup. Despite hardly ever clicking into top gear throughout the match the Ammies repeated their opening day trick of coming back from two down, but this time it was the visitors who produced a late string in the tail. Injuries, suspensions and holidays again prevented manager Darren Quick from selecting his first choice eleven. Jamie Tandy was restored to the starting line-up in the absence of the suspended Ben Beresford whilst Liam Foster got his first start of the season in place of the injured Lee Cooper. After the excitement of Saturday today’s game started slowly, and the two sides contented themselves with occasional sparring during the opening stages. Perhaps the visitors looked slightly the more dangerous side but their first chance didn’t materialise until the 12th minute. Winger Alex Brees was fouled just outside the right hand angle of the box and from the free-kick big defender Jack Higgins directed his header wide of Andy Robertson’s right hand post. Salford’s forays forward were amounting to worryingly little, courtesy of a well-drilled Clitheroe side who got men behind the ball quickly when trouble threatened. The visitors were also sharp in the counter attack, and opened the scoring after a neat exchange of play in the 18th minute. Ashley Parillon had already been involved in the build-up before he collected a pass into the box, and with a little space at his disposal flicked a 15 yard shot wide of Robertson and off his right hand post into the net. Any hopes that the goal might shake City out of their creative lethargy were soon dispelled as they failed to seriously threaten Ben Proctor’s goal for quite a while. A chance did arrive in the 27th minute when Steve Foster’s pass out to the right found Rhodri Giggs, but under the close attentions of Clitheroe skipper Kevin Brown his shot rasped wide of the target Clitheroe were back on the offensive two minutes later, and Mark Jackson’s low 25-yard shot was well held by Robertson. From the keeper's punted clearance possession fell to Giggs inside the Clitheroe box, and on the left. A pinpoint pass switched play over to Foster on the right, but the striker’s shot was miscued and Giggs found himself back in possession. Last season’s top scorer decided to have a go himself this time, but his 12 yard angled effort drifted wide of Proctor’s left hand post. The match again settled into something of a featureless midfield tussle, and the referee was a little fussy six minutes before the break when he booked Foster after what looked an accidental collision with Proctor. Giggs followed his strike-partner into the book three minutes later as Salford’s yellow card count drew level with the decent scoring chances the side had created. In the first minute of time added on Liam Foster – enjoying an impressive season’s debut at right back – got forward to deliver a decent cross to the edge of the box, but Martyn Andrews’ header didn’t cause Proctor too many problems. An undistinguished first half for the Ammies who seemed to be suffering a hangover from their weekend exertions. Clitheroe hadn’t pulled up any trees either, but they could at least look back on a well taken goal. HALF TIME : SALFORD CITY 0, CLITHEROE 1 Considering the pattern of the first half it was little surprise that the second got off to a slow start as well. Again though it was the visitors who threatened first when Jackson’s smart ball into the box set up Danny Williams, but Robertson did well to block his goal-bound effort with an outstretched leg. That chance came along in the 53rd minute, but just six minutes later the visitors earned themselves a two-goal cushion. The ball was moved quickly up the Clitheroe left where it was picked up inside the box by Brees. Robertson moved out to close him down but the Clitheroe winger placed a good finish past the Salford keeper and into the net. A body blow for Salford, and a few minutes later a tired looking Jamie Tandy made way for Sam Freakes. Salford had produced a couple of grandstand finishes already this season, and it seemed that another might just be in store today as the side picked up their tempo and began to put pressure on Clitheroe’s defence. With 69 minutes on the clock Freakes’ corner flew into the danger area to cause panic amongst the visiting defence. Prolific striker Foster thrives in situations such as these and he rammed the loose ball firmly into the net from close range to halve Clitheroe’s advantage. The goal woke up the visitors, and they exerted some pressure on the Salford goal without managing to fashion a chance on goal. At the other end the Ammies were awarded a free-kick following a foul on Freakes, and Giggs’ delivery from the right seemed destined for the head of Andrews until Brown rose high to concede the corner. The Ammies came desperately close to an equaliser with 16 minutes left as Robertson drove a long, accurate ball downfield. Skipper Andrews collected the pass and advanced into the box, only to see his low shot come back off keeper Proctor. The grounded Andrews managed to lift the loose ball back over the keeper but Chris Smalley intervened to head the ball off the line and away to safety. The game was opening up a little at last, and in the next minute a swift Clitheroe counter saw the ball worked out right to Brees. His cross into the centre was perfect but unmarked substitute Tom Williams could only guide his 12 yard header wide of Robertson’s right hand post.. Both sides were looking to get a goal, and with just six minutes left Salford full-back Matty Cross broke purposefully up the left. The cross into the middle allowed Giggs to nudge ahead of his marker, but he was forced to check and unselfishly laid the ball back into the path of Foster. From the edge of the box you would have bet heavily on the Salford front-man to hit the target, but this time his shot flew over Proctor’s bar. The Ammies’ late tenacity has been a feature of this season already, and they pressed forward again in the 86th minute. A dangerous build-up gave Foster possession on the right hand side of the area, and he looked up before rolling a pass to the supporting Dean Cooper. The ex-Coppull United man’s low shot was decent enough, but Proctor will be disappointed to have fumbled the effort and could only watch as the ball rolled into the net for yet another dramatic Moor Lane goal. To their credit Clitheroe refused to knocked out of their stride by Cooper’s goal, and with just 2 minutes remaining Higgins showed strength and determination to win a challenge with Giggs inside his own half. His driving run forward took him well into Salford territory and the pass out right to Jackson was equally effective. The visiting striker took the ball on a pace or too before powering a shot goalwards, but Robertson got across well to push the ball outside his left hand post for a corner. With the game just into injury time Clitheroe secured the points with a goal that was tinged with controversy. Another quick raid into the Salford half saw Jackson move the ball out to the right, where Brees continued the forward progress. The winger’s low pass into the centre picked out substitute Ollie Devenney and despite a fairly solid shout for offside he was allowed to carry on and place a composed finish past Robertson. A real sickener for the Ammies after they’d hauled themselves back into the match, and there was only time for Cooper to send a low effort straight at Proctor before the referee blew the final whistle. Manager Darren Quick was unhappy with his team’s showing this afternoon, and it was something of a bad day at the office for the Ammies. Rather like the visit of Trafford on the season’s opening day they didn’t get going until two goals down, and this time a late rally wasn’t to prove enough to save the day. Clitheroe, as usual, look a solid outfit and could well be in the mix come the end of the season. Salford must look to recover quickly from this setback, their first home defeat since Bamber Bridge’s win in February 11 games ago. That statistic underlines the progress the team has made over the last six months or so and the squad has the attitude and ability to bounce back at Radcliffe on Saturday. TEAMS : 1) Andy Robertson 2) Liam Foster 3) Matty Cross 4) Gareth Thomas 5) Billy McCartney 6) Darren Hockenhull 7) Dean Cooper 8) Martyn Andrews (c) 9) Rhodri Giggs 10) Steve Foster 11) Jamie Tandy 12) Ash Kelly 14) Sam Freakes (for Tandy, 62nd min) 15) Danny Bell 16) Jon-Paul Caruana CLITHEROE : 1) Ben Proctor 2) Jonathan Forbes 3) Chris Smalley 4) Jack Higgins 5) Kevin Brown (c) 6) Ashley Parillon 7) Alex Brees 8) Joe Roberts 9) Louis Mayers 10) Mark Jackson 11) Danny Williams 12) Alan Coar (for Mayers, 83rd min) 14) Tom Williams (for Danny Williams, 58th min) 15) Ollie Devenney (for Roberts, 77th min) 16) Phil Eastwood 17) Danny Kinsey Attendance : 153 Source: Andy Giblin. Due to problems with spam only SalfordOnline members can now leave comments. 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