Since Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt turned up at Moor Lane two weeks ago, Salford City have lost three out of four games, as uncertainty surrounds the club concerning its takeover by the Class of '92 (see previous Salford Star article – click here).
Today the Ammies faced bottom of the table Ossett Albion, who had previously only won three games all season. But out of sorts Salford just couldn't compete against the team that every club in the league has positively stuffed.
An omen for Ossett was a boat that has suddenly appeared at Moor Lane behind the corner flag – a lifeboat? Salford certainly metaphorically helped the sinking Ossett onto the raft, shipping three soft goals with virtually nothing in reply.
After only seven minutes an Ossett forward had a speculative shot from outside the area which the keeper, off his line, watched as it sailed over his outstretched glove. 0-1. And after 25 minutes the Yorkshire no hopers doubled their lead as another forward romped clear of the static Ammies defence to drill home. 0-2. And that was it for a first half in which Salford barely mustered a shot at goal.
After the interval the referee decided to liven up proceedings and give Salford fans something to make clown noises about. An Ossett winger was flagged offside by the linesman but the ref, incredibly, allowed play to continue. The winger slid a dangerous cross into the area and one of the Salford defenders, who had already stopped playing, had no other choice but to hack down a forward who was odds on to score. The referee pointed to a free kick outside the box.
Cue the now standard circus theme tune and `You don't know what you're doing'…It should have been offside in the first place. Luckily for the official the resulting Ossett free kick was ballooned over the bar.
It all seemed to galvanise both the fans and the team as Salford finally put some pressure on the Ossett defence. A shot was juggled out by the Ossett keeper, with the resultant header nodded off the line. But moments later it was back to the referee when an Ossett player went down near the Salford byline and, with play continuing, the away team's physio came onto the pitch to administer treatment for a good few minutes before the ref finally blew for a drop ball. More circus tunes.
Meanwhile, at the other end the Ossett keeper saved a Danny Browne shot at his near post but that was to prove Salford's last flurry. Indeed Ossett, faster to the ball during the whole match, nearly made it three but the Salford keeper pushed a header onto the bar. With minutes remaining, however, a soft shot seemed to go through him as Ossett did make it three. Final score 0-3.
Salford City, well out of sorts, need to re-float some belief before playing second bottom of the table Wakefield away on Tuesday night.
Photos by Andrew Goudie
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