By Andy Giblin
There were eight changes from the side that drew at home to Matlock Town on Tuesday evening. Craig Dootson had another outing between the sticks with Liam Nolan and Luke Giverin drafted into the defence amongst regulars Steve Howson and Jordan Hulme (playing at right back this evening). In midfield Tunji Moses was back after suspension with Luke Clark and youth team player James Woodward alongside him in the middle of the park. The front three comprised Joe Mwasile, Michael Itela and Chris Sharp with a number of regular first-teamers on the bench.
Nantwich have enjoyed a good start to their own season and with ex-Ammies Josh Hancock and Matt Kosylo in their line-up they pressed forward from the start. With barely a minute played Elliott Osbourne crossed from the right and Kosylo on just failed to get his head onto the end of that one.
Salford looked lively too during the opening minutes and Joe Mwasile had a shot blocked with a similar fate befalling Chris Sharp’s follow-up effort. Close for Salford and in the fifth minute they opened the scoring when Steve Howson – a late replacement for Andy Dawson – timed his run to meet a Luke Giverin corner from the right perfectly to bullet a header past Kristian Burzyski.
A very promising start for this unfamiliar Salford line-up but they had some defending to do in its aftermath as Nantwich probed for an opening. The Ammies defended well but in the sixteenth minute a build-up that involved Osbourne and Sam Hall opened up space for Matt Bell on the left-hand side of the box. The Dabbers’ number ten put in a low shot that was on target but Craig Dootson spread himself to deflect the effort away to safety. The respite was to be brief however and in the next minute Osbourne picked up a pass out to the left before cutting inside and despatching a powerfully hit effort that swerved past Dootson and inside his far post.
A splendid strike from Osbourne but Salford were undeterred and very nearly restored their lead within a couple of minutes of the restart. Mwasile seemed to have the measure of the home defence during these early stages and he delivered what was probably intended as a cross from wide on the left. The ball evaded everyone, including the Town keeper but luck was against Salford as it hit the inside of the far post before bouncing back across goal to be hoofed unceremoniously clear.
Very, very close for The Ammies but Nantwich began to take control of the game afterwards and midway through the first half they too were denied by the woodwork. Osbourne’s corner from the right fell perfectly for Jon Moran whose header crashed off the underside of the bar and when the Town man tried to force home the loose ball he was thwarted by Dootson.
Within a minute Nantwich skipper Hall tried his luck from nearly thirty-five yards out but although the piledriver of a shot had power, it lacked direction.
Salford were having to defend in numbers and in the twenty-eighth minute Osbourne’s free-kick found Matt Bailey whose cross from the right almost curled into the goal. Josh Hancock, Osbourne and Kolsylo all had efforts either blocked or saved and with the pressure building it was no real surprise when The Dabbers went ahead seven minutes before the break. Good work from Darren Thornton and Kosylo ended with the ball played into the right-hand side of the box and Steve Jones beat Dootson with a cool finish.
Having gone in front for the first time Nantwich were not content to rest on their laurels, but instead went in search of another goal. Osbourne’s pass found Kosylo whose ball out to the right gave Jones the chance to drop a cross into the danger area where Hancock almost made decisive contact with his head.
There were more chances for a Nantwich side that was finishing the first half on top, starting when Osbourne’s cross from the right bounced its way across the Salford box without getting a finishing touch. In first half injury time the irrepressibly Osbourne was at it again, advancing on a right of centre run before sliding a low pass into the penalty area. Jones was onto the ball in a flash, evading the advancing Dootson before sliding a low, angled shot from the right off the far post and into the net. It looked as if Town would go in two goals ahead but the assistant’s flag had gone up and The Ammies were still very much on top.
The Dabbers deserved their half time lead and Salford made a change at the break, replacing James Woodward with Richie Allen. It appeared that Osbourne intended to pick up the second half where he’d left off the first, drifting inside from the left before lifting a firmly hit effort over the crossbar. In the fifty-third minute Osbourne threatened again, receiving a pass to the right before slicing his way into the penalty area and again powering in an effort that he couldn’t quite keep down.
Within a minute of that chance Thornton had thundered a thirty-five yard free-kick a few feet over the Salford bar and there was no respite for Salford as Osbourne won possession from Luke Clark inside the visitors’ half. A pass to the right followed and from the angle of the penalty area Jones drove in a slightly rising effort that zipped a foot wide of the far post.
Salford could muster little in the way of a response and on the hour Hancock – who spent pre-season at Moor Lane – pushed forward, evaded Nolan’s challenge on the edge of the box and drilled in a low effort that was inches wide of Dootson’s left-hand upright.
The Ammies had spent most of the second half pressed back into their own half but Nantwich’s dominance began to fade a little and there was less pressure for the visiting side to absorb. The Dabber still looked occasionally dangerous however and with eighteen minutes left Osbourne found Hancock on the left and his low shot was just wide of the far post.
With eleven minutes to play Salford replaced Mwasile and Michael Itela with Lewis Hardcastle and Danny Webber and although possession became more even the visitors could not find a way through to Burzyski’s goal.
Kosylo’s rising effort was a foot too high in the eighty-first minute an shortly after that substitute Liam Shotton slide in to meet Hall’s pass from the right only to scoop the ball over the bar. Town substitute Chris Smith slammed a twenty-five yarder wide of Dootson’s right-hand post with two minutes left and the last chance of the game went to the home side during time added on. Shotton broke clear on the left before cutting into the box and trying a low shot from a very tight angle. The ball clipped off the near post before being cleared and in hindsight a pass inside to the unmarked Josh Gordon may have been a better option.
It didn’t matter however as Nantwich had done enough to progress to the Trophy’s next round and in truth might have won by a more comfortable margin.
Photo by Charlotte Tattersall.
