Salford City returned to winning ways with a bruising 4-0 win over Ramsbottom United at Moor Lane.
It means The Ammies have closed the gap to league leaders Blyth Spartans – who lost to Workington – to six points.
With Ramsbottom at the foot of the table however, forced to play eight consecutive away matches, anything but a win would have been unacceptable.
For most of the game the visitors looked all at sea.
There was little cohesion between the back four which allowed Salford to get in behind all too often.
They may have caught Josh Hine offside three times but this was more down to luck rather than organisation.
The visitors improved defensively in the second half but by that time the damage had been done and Salford were in cruising mode.
The opening five minutes saw Salford get the first chance as Gary Stopforth surged forward before having his shot well blocked by a Ramsbottom defender.
Richie Allen found the back of the net with the rebound thanks to a well-placed strike from close range.
Salford’s attack was relentless as Josh Hine and Gareth Seddon found space in the Ramsbottom final third, but they faced still opposition from Rammy captain Grant Shenton.
The Ammies defence dominated in the opening stages, snuffing out any fightback from the visitors, whose only shot on target in the opening 15 minutes came from a hopeful long range effort by Phil Edgehill, a shot easily stopped by Jay Lynch.
Anthony Johnson words post-Frickley about the players needing match sharpness seemed to ring truer the more the game developed, as his Ammies side had all the venom that they lacked against The Blues.
Ramsbottom had a solid chance to level the scores near the 20 minute mark from a free kick by Michael Oates. His curling shot looked dangerous but Jay Lynch did well to catch the ball and kill the chance.
Allen made it two for Salford thanks to a long throw from Hine, picked up by Johnston who provided the assist into the box before a close-range finish from the ex-Buxton man doubled The Ammies’ advantage.
Hine’s long throwing continued to cause problems throughout the game as he found Moses and Seddon with ease, it was only the two attackers who failed to turn his ability into an assist.
If anyone was going to turn the game around for the visitors it was Robbie Bromley, who picked up a long ball on the right wing, did superbly to keep it in before ghosting past Steve O’Halloran. Alex Meany fired the ball wide from Bromley’s inside pass but the clever build up deserved much better.
Gareth Seddon finally returned to the Salford scoresheet. The big money player took the ball away from Cameron Dudley to put himself one on one with the goalkeeper; before finessing his finish in the bottom right.
Allen almost completed his hat trick on the stroke of half time: a curled effort beat the Rams keeper, however was well cleared by Bromley.
The best chance came from the second half would fall for Salford near the hour mark.
Seddon would make a superb flick on from Jay Lynch’s goalkick that found Johnston, his chipped pass up put Hine one on one, yet he couldn’t convert the opportunity as his shot was aimed directly at the goalkeeper.
As the second half developed, Hine would continue to be a major influence. Acting as a poacher, he continued to pick up balls in the box.
A Gary Stopforth ball would almost lead to a goal for the Chorley loanee, however the angle proved too tight for him as he blazed the ball over.
As the game drew to a close, chances were few and far between with Salford corners the only major test of either goalkeeper’s ability.
However, Salford would make it four in the 84th minute, when Hine finally timed his run perfectly after being caught offside four times – taking advantage of a mistimed run by Shenton and placing the ball home.
Salford City (4-4-2): J Lynch, Gumbs, O’Halloran, Stopforth, Howson, C Lynch ©, Johnston, Moses (Clarke ‘61), Hine, Seddon (Webber ‘61), Allen (Poole ‘77)
Subs not used:Mwasile, Dawson
Ramsbottom United (4-4-2): Shenton (c), Bromley, Heron, Edgehill, Dudley, Meany, Coppin, Cliffe, Oates (Wilkins ‘70), Heywood (Kuba-Kuba ‘61), Melia
Subs not used:Ashcroft, Pritchyard, Black
Referee: Ben Speedie (Merseyside)
Main image by Charlotte Tattersall (@SalfordFCPhotos)
