By Andy Giblin
The Seagulls of Colwyn Bay are not of the feathered and malicious orange-eyed glare variety but this evening they pulled of a smash and grab raid worthy of their home town’s most determined denizens of the sky. With fifteen minutes left to play The Ammies were two up and looking largely untroubled by a visiting side that had shown little.
Generally though, it was Salford who looked the more threatening side with the forward line lively and the midfield sweeping up much of the possession in the middle of the park. A minute or so after Holsgrove’s chance Steve Howson set off on a driving run towards the Colwyn penalty area but a return pass from Jordan Hulme had just a little too much pace and the ball was collected by Sanna.
The Ammies were displaying patience in their build-ups, keeping possession and looking for a crack to appear in the Bay defence. They almost found one in the thirteenth minute when Gary Stopforth squared a pass to the right and Clark advanced a yard or two before slamming in a powerful shot that was on target until it took a nick of a defender to go out for a corner.
There was still work for Webber to do and from an angle just about the edge of the box he slid a low finish past Sanna to record the first goal of the evening and his second of the season. That was Salford’s fifth goal of the new campaign with four of them directly assisted by Hulme, to add to his firecracker of a strike at Mickleover at the weekend.
There was another injury for Colwyn to contend with midway through the first half with Sam Barnes having to be replaced by Archie Love and that change would he particularly significant later in the evening.
For now The Ammies went looking for another goal a with Hulme and Webber looking capable of prising open the visiting defence again. To be fair Bay dug in after conceding the first goal and losing two starters but Salford were firmly on top in terms of possession and attacking intention.
Just after Barnes’s departure the home side won a free-kick on the right and Clark – enjoying an impressive and disciplined first start – swung a good delivery into the penalty area. Fellow midfielder Scott Burton got his head to that one but from a dozen yards out could only direct the effort high and wide of Sanna’s left-hand post.
Patience was still the key for Salford against a side who were unsurprisingly defending in numbers – and well – but a second goal was on the cards. Seven minutes before the break Salford constructed another move on the left and Steve O’Halloran whipped in a glorious cross from almost on the touchline. There were plenty of defenders in the box but it was Hulme who rose highest and with most purpose, putting in a clinical header that dropped over Sanna and underneath the crossbar to make it two-nil.
Quite an accomplished first half performance from Salford and they started off the second half looking very solid and – with a two goal cushion – happy to wait for chances to present themselves. There were a couple of bookings during the first fifteen minutes of the second half and although Webber and Hulme still looked sharp up front, threats on goal were scarce.
Bay worked hard without finding the penetration they needed to break through Salford’s midfield and defence and on the hour the home side almost wrapped up the three points. A free-kick was awarded, left-of-centre and about twenty-two yards out and Clark’s gently curling effort seemed to have Sanna in trouble only to drop just outside his right-hand angle of post and crossbar.
Nearly Clark’s first Salford goal and a minute later Bay’s Robbie Booth drilled in a low free-kick from distance that Jay Lynch collected without too much fuss.
That block was to be Webber’s final contribution as he and Giverin were replaced by Phil Dean and Matt Chadwick soon afterwards. That change gave Salford a little more instinctive width and Dean was soon giving Colwyn’s defence plenty to think about.
Dean was at it again a couple of minutes later, out-pacing his marker before swinging a good cross into the penalty area but that one was inches too high for Hulme and Chadwick inside the penalty area and Colwyn were able to clear their lines.
With seventeen minutes to play Chris Sharp advanced with speed and purpose from the middle of the park before unleashing a powerful drive that hit a defender before going out for a corner. Nothing too worrying there but it was a statement of intent from the visitors and three minutes later they had worked their way onto the score-sheet.
Midfielder Booth had grafted all evening and he slid a nice ball forward for substitute Archie Love who turned sweetly before letting fly with a low, driven effort. At first it seemed as if the home supporters would be acknowledging another good save from their keeper but having got down to his right to get to the ball Jay Lynch seemed to let it squirm away from him. A desperate attempt to claw the ball back was in vain as Colwyn appealed for the goal and the assistant and referee agreed that the line had indeed been crossed.
Jay Lynch errors are not common things and he has saved numerous points for his team since signing from Morecambe during the early stages of last season. This one was a surprise for everyone, but The Ammies were still ahead in a game they had dominated so their grip on the points still appeared to be strong.
After seeming resigned, largely, to damage limitation since going two behind Colwyn were suddenly in with a sniff and their level of performance rose perceptibly. Within three minutes of Love’s goal the visitors had won a corner on the right after Sharp had another long range bullet deflected behind. Jay Lynch – possibly impeded as he went – got up to punch that one clear but the ball fell to the edge of the box where Carl Rodgers hooked in a decent effort that was blocked by the home defence.
Another push into Salford territory gave Holsgrove the chance to move in from the left and he spotted Sharp’s run further to the right, the pass was perfect for Sharp who hit his shot from the edge of the box with real venom giving Jay Lynch no chance to make the save. A finish reminiscent of his father, ex-Oldham Athletic (and, I believe, Everton) striker Graeme and Bay were on level terms having been apparently out for the count just fifteen minutes before.
Quite a comeback from the Welsh side and having pegged their hosts back they had the temerity to look for a winning goal. With four minutes left The Ammies gave away possession inside their own half and Sharp was on hand to hit a low twenty-two yarder that was straight at Jay Lynch.
With their opponents understandably loathe to risk their unlikely point The Ammies found it hard going at the other end during the closing moments but even so that football staple – ‘The Last Big Chance’ always looked likely to show up. It chose the third minute of time added on to do so after Chris Lynch passed back for Jay who unleashed one of his accurate long kicks, this time towards the edge of the Colwyn penalty area. Hulme met that one with back to goal and with a great bit of skill chested the ball to the right for lively substitute Chadwick. This could be the moment that Salford won the match but luck was against them as the ex-Ashton man tried a curling left-footer that beat Sanna and may have scraped the far post on its way out for a goal-kick.
