Salford City 0 FC Halifax Town 1: SALFORD City can count themselves unlucky not to have taken a share of the spoils from Saturday’s home game with UniBond League First Division North leaders FC Halifax Town.

Played in front of City’s largest ever attendance at Moor Lane with the crowd approaching the 600 mark, only a glaring mix-up in City’s defence separated the winners from the losers in this bottom versus top clash.

In what was Neil Hall’s second game in charge of City, a vastly changed Salford starting line-up competed well in an opening half in which neither forward line seriously tested the opponents’ goalkeeper.

City’s best chance of the opening exchanges fell to club captain Jon Robinson after 30 minutes of play but his snatched shot failed to trouble Town keeper Craig Ellison.

At the start of the second period, Salford were looking comfortable until hesitancy between debutant keeper Matthew Convey, who has joined on loan at Moor Lane from Bradford City, and his central defenders gave Halifax striker and former Welsh young player of the year Ashley Stott the simplest of headers into an empty net on 51 minutes.

The longer the game went on, however, the large visiting Shaymen support became more and more restless as their team struggled to maintain their slender lead.

With the home side’s football belying their lowly league position, Robinson almost hit an equaliser with his shot going just wide of the target. And fellow City striker Steve Moore saw his close range strike rebound agonisingly off an upright three minutes from time.

Despite the defeat, City fans will have taken great heart from the team’s much improved performance.

Apart from the goal, the centre half partnership of former Stockport County and Oldham Athletic ace Mike Flynn and local lad Mark Ayres worked well. They got to grips with the visiting strikers while Martin Andrews and the vastly experienced Steve Tobin worked tirelessly in midfield.

Confidence should now be improving. Salford are midway through the season and the feeling around the club is that there are still enough points to be won to get City off the bottom rung of the league table.

Next up for City is an away game at mid-table Wakefield this Saturday, January 24, kick-off 3pm.

They then travel to high-flying Skelmersdale United on Tuesday, January 27, kick-off 7.45pm.

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