An Early October Fright For Salford City as Newport claim 3-1 win

EFL League Two has been renowned for so called ‘‘scrappy football’’, the 4th tier of English Football is the lowest league in the EFL pyramid, with the threat of relegation into non-league football looming within the lower spots. The early doors of October brought local club Salford City a 3-and-a-half-hour drive to Newport in their opening fixture of the month.

This match came after a shaky start to the season for Salford during the August and September months, as Salford’s only 2 wins came against Milton Keynes and Cheltenham (Being their most recent victory on September 14th). 

This has left them languishing in 20th in the standings. The Ammie's had it all to prove against Newport County on Tuesday, a club that was entering its 12th consecutive season in League Two. 

However, the travelling fans would not see success in South Wales, as Newport County would defend their home turf ruthlessly to secure a 3-1 victory over Salford. Despite the crushing defeat so far from home, Salford City’s newest number 9, Cole Stockton (who the club had signed from Burton Albion in June), scored his first goal for the club after 9 games of patience. The 30-year-old bringing a glimmer of hope to the travelling fans, after not seeing a Salford Goal for 2 consecutive games. 

Furthermore, there were many moments of near misses for Salford, particularly by Everton Under 21’s graduate Francis Okoronkwo. It cannot be denied that the players gave it everything they could till the very end, a positive seen regularly throughout this season so far. However, Salford once again acclaimed an array of yellow cards throughout the game, as early as the 9th minute by Conor McAley through a controversial challenge. Salford City now has acclaimed the most yellow cards out of any League Two club this season, with 24 yellow cards in just 9 games, an issue that has brought plenty of criticism from all fanbases alike.  

For Karl Robinson (Salford’s Head Coach since January), he urged for no commiserations, as in an interview for Salford City FC’s media, he believes that ‘‘I don’t think any of the players let themselves down individually’’, as well as claiming the ‘‘attitude was there’’ amongst all players. Robinson however did argue that the cohesiveness of the team, particularly the role of the defensive line moving up to support the attackers, was an issue that needed to be addressed. But despite the rocky beginnings of their 24/25 campaign, Robinson remained confident in his group and expressed his frustration for the many critics that have questioned his position in the club. In a club that has received so much media attention since the late 2010’s, due to some shareholders of the club being the likes of David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and even Gary Neville, the pressure is always on the manager to deliver, but Robinson remains firm on silencing the critics, not even breaking a sweat. 

All eyes lie now on Saturday 5th October, where The Ammie’s will return to the Peninsula Stadium to host against AFC Wimbledon. Salford City currently remain 20th in the table, and despite the early Halloween fright to begin their October fixtures, one thing is for sure, Salford City will be sure to give it 100%.  

Image from @salfordcityfc