SALFORD City’s impressive cup form continued on Saturday as they beat Clitheroe 5-3 in a hugely entertaining FA Trophy second qualifying round tie at Moor Lane.

New signing Neil Chappell enjoyed a dream debut for the Ammies, sliding home Craig Mahon’s cross in the ninth minute to open the scoring.

Eight minutes later he pounced on a loose ball inside Clitheroe’s six-yard box to slam home from close range to put Salford two-nil up.

A disputed Nathan Taylor penalty in the 26th minute put Clitheroe in contention, but Salford restored their two-goal advantage 13 minutes before the break when Alex Mortimer curled home a 20-yard free-kick.

There was no let-up in the action in the second half, and four minutes after the restart Danny Williams’ header trimmed Salford’s lead once again.

The Ammies had to soak up a fair amount of Clitheroe pressure, but they always looked dangerous on the break.

In the 72nd minute central defender Darren Hockenhull headed home from close range following good work from Rhodri Giggs and Salford appeared to have one foot in the next round.

A determined Clitheroe side had other ideas however, and four minutes later striker Alan Coar’s header made the scoreline 4-3 to set up a fascinating finale.

There were chances at both ends in the time remaining, but deep into injury time Mahon found the energy to outpace the visiting defence before driving an 18-yard shot into the net to finally seal City’s win.

The Ammies now make the long trip to Norfolk in the next round as they visit Unibond Premier side King’s Lynn (November 21).

Tuesday’s visit to Bamber Bridge was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Salford have two Unibond League games scheduled for the next week. On Saturday Clitheroe must visit Moor Lane again (kick off 3pm) whilst the Ammies visit Wakefield on Monday November 9th (kick off 7.45pm).