NO ESCAPE

Trafford 5 Salford City 1

The second half hadn't even kicked off yet when the Salford fans, orange flags waving behind the goal, began singing last season's Great Escape anthem. Did it inspire the team to hit the come back heights of last spring? A few minutes later Trafford scored again to make it 4-1. Ooops…

The first game of the Unibond First Division North brought a bumper crowd of over 200 to Trafford's Shawe View ground to witness what was supposed to be a titanic local derby, between the hottest team of last season's end versus the team that stuffed us 5-2 and 6-2 both home and away.

And it was looking really good for Salford for, oooo at least ten minutes, before Trafford opened the scoring with a shot from the edge of the area to take the lead.  And then almost straight away a mix up in the defence allowed Trafford to go 2-0 up. It was like the gloom was descending all over again. But no!

Salford hit back, and after 25 minutes Ian Fitzpatrick, set free by Rhodri Giggs, slid the ball into the net to make it a mere 2-1. The come-back was on. And Salford's fighting spirit was there for all to see, particularly after the half hour when the whole team joined in as No 2, Darren Hockenhull, got into a spat with the Trafford winger, Scott Metcalfe.

To the delight of the Salford fans, Metcalfe was sent off but he was followed shortly after as Hockenhull too was red carded. It didn't help when a Salford attack broke down and the missing defender wasn't around to plug a gap in the outnumbered defence as Trafford swept forward and just before half time made it 3-1.

The only joy of the half for Salford fans had been taking the mick out of the overweight Boris Johnsonesque Trafford keeper, Tom Read. Unfortunately he hadn't had to wobble too far, as Salford hardly tested him to see if he had any hidden cat-like abilities.

So the second half kicked off and within minutes it was 4-1, after another defensive mix up. And it could have been worse but for two great saves from  Salford keeper, Andy Robertson, who first used his legs and then a full length dive to stop more certain goals.

Any hopes of another Great Escape were thwarted when Will Ahern was sent off after 80 minutes and Trafford exploited the space five minutes later to make it 5-1 from long range. Trafford are turning out to be Salford's bogey team – just hope that doesn't apply to all the other twenty teams in the league this season. Still, it could have been worse – we could all be, er, Everton supporters…

And now do you want the good news or the bad news?  The good news?  Salford City are not bottom of the league after one game!  Yes, Prescot Cables got stuffed 5-0 by Lancaster City to send them bottom.  And the bad news?  On Tuesday night Salford play Lancaster City…

For more details on all Salford City's games visit www.salfordcityfc.com and for proper match reports click on Supporters, then SCFC Forum, then Banter...