Salford put to the sword

In a return of their opening fixture the FC United youth team avenged a 1-0 defeat with something all together more comprehensive.

Whilst FC new boy Gary Nolan had the first chance in the first minute, being foiled by the Salford Keeper in a one on one situation, as with the earlier game Salford started the brighter of the two sides; given far too much space they dominated the early exchanges. Only a combination of wayward shooting and fine keeping by Jake Edwards kept the score level.

The next chance for FC didn’t come until the 32nd minute when Sam Freakes found himself with space to cut in from the left wing. A cross cum shot from Sam was saved but after a little confusion Nolan took control and slotted home the first goal. This was against the run of play and Salford continued to dominate possession throughout the first half, although a star performance by Jake kept the half time score at 1-0.

A half-time lecture was clearly taken to heart as FC marked much tighter and were quicker to challenge for loose balls. A tactic that quickly paid dividends as the youth team goal machine, Jamie Mack placed the ball into the corner of the net after a cross field pass had found Jack Lyons who passed back inside for Mack.

From there it was virtually all FC as balls to the wide players allowed them to cross in for chance after chance. That it took a further 20 minutes to score again was perhaps the biggest surprise. A left wing corner was not cleared by Salford and ran to Jack Lyons outside the far post and he calmly slotted home for 3-0.

The fourth and final goal came soon after when the ball was swept out to the right wing and Tim Marshall who delivered a pin point cross to the head of Jamie Mack who returned it back across a flat footed Salford keeper and into the bottom corner of the goal. Several chances came and went then but no-one else got on the score sheet, most guilty being Sam Freakes. His performances on the left wing have done much to create the goal threat FC have carried throughout the season, fully deserving his player of the month for September award; but his shooting boots need a little adjustment as whilst he could have had a hat trick, in what can only be described as charitable deeds, he totally failed to trouble the keeper.

FC United of Manchester
1. Jake Edwards
2. Shaun Connor
3. Barry Davies
4. John Buckley
5. Nick Swirad
16. Alex Sutcliffe
7. Tim Marshall
8. Gary Nolan (Goal 32 Mins)
9. Jack Lyons (Goal 69 Mins)
10. Jamie Mack (Goals 47 & 71 Mins)
11. Sam Freakes
Subs
12. Ashley Reece (For 16, 59 Mins)
14. Shaun Williams (For 5, 69 Mins)
15. Mark Reeves (For 8, 74 Mins)
17. Josh Parkinson


Salford City
1. Charlie Dorsey
2. Steve Bancroft
3. Will Mellor
4. Daniel Bardsley
5. Steven Richards
6. Jordan Lee
7. Steve Yates
8. Alex Kemp
9. Kiefer Greig
10. Lee Bancroft
11. Jem Selcuk
Sub
12. Chris Hodgin