Match Report: Salford City 2-2 Forest Green Rovers
Unable to watch Blues, I took in Salford vs Forest Green on Saturday in a League Two six-pointer as they look to avoid the drop.
Salford City and Forest Green Rovers shared the spoils in an important game at the bottom end of League Two.
While often short on quality, it was a game that had a bit of everything, with Salford debutant Salford City boss receiving one of three red cards before seeing his side equalise in injury time via the spot.
Robinson made one change from the side beaten at Accrington Stanley, bringing Declan John back into the XI in place of Junior Luamba with Luke Garbutt stepping into midfield.
Troy Deeney made two changes to his XI, Callum Jones dropping to the bench while Callum Morton missed out due to the terms of his loan from Salford. Fankaty Dabo lined up as part of the front three with Reece Brown stepping into the middle.
The hosts got off to a strong start and Robinson had to wait just four minutes to celebrate his first goal, Elliott Watt delivering for the giant Matt Smith who looped his header over Luke Daniels.
Robinson wasn’t smiling for too long. He was sent off before a quarter of an hour had been played, holding the ball to stop Forest Green taking a quick throw before chucking it away. Rules are rules, Karl. He had good reason to stop the visitors given Dabo was firing wide a minute later.
Despite being a lively affair, chances were few and far between. The visitors were growing into the game and finally made their moments count. Brown set Kyle McAllister away, who in turn fed Charlie McCann for a low strike.
The diminutive midfield was more accurate with his next attempt, excellent work from Matty Stevens allowing him to move into the box and finish low. Daho almost made it two but Smith threw his huge frame at the ball to deny a certain goal.
The second followed a similar pattern to the first, Salford having the better early doors before Deeney’s men stepped up.
Ryan Watson forced a low stop before McCann got his angles wrong in the area when through on goal. Smith had an effort blocked and later failed to turn home Bolton’s right-wing cross while Watt shot over from distance.
It took an Inniss header at the near post to give Forest Green a lift and another corner did the trick. The ball was cleared but Brown hoisted the ball back into the area. Inniss attacked it and Stevens was on hand to volley home his 50th goal for the club, making him their highest EFL goalscorer.
That was pretty much that, or so it seemed. Salford were going direct but offering little. Then as injury time approached, Forest Green failed to clear and substitute Jones got his bearings wrong, swinging and connecting with Adrian Mariappa rather than the ball.
The penalty was given and both Inniss and Mariappa were sent off for second bookings after an argument ensued. Watson made no mistake from the spot.
The wait for victory goes on with Forest Green winless in ten and Salford in 11, both dating back to the final week of October.
Lineups
Salford: Cairns; Ingram (Luamba 46) Mariappa Tilt John; Bolton (Lund 77) Watt Watson Garbutt; McAleny (N’Mai 83) Smith. Unused: Wright; Berkoe McLennan Dackers.
FGR: Daniels; Bernard (Bendle 78) Inniss JMT Robson; Bunker Brown (Jones 71) McCann; Dabo Stevens (Taylor 86) McAllister. Unused: Searle; Lavinier Johnson Omotoye.
Tactics
This was a pretty unclean football match with both sides looking to play only when the opportunity arose rather than trying to force it.
Salford were all about width. Almost every move they made was with the intention of getting the wide players involved, whether that was a switch of play or winning the seconds off Matt Smith and getting the ball wide for a carry and delivery.
On the right, Bolton was given the ball as often as possible, looking to get round Robson, done as quick as possible to keep him 1v1 with Robson. Down the left, Garbutt had the support of John. On both flanks, the aim was to cross towards the far post where Matt Smith lay in wait.
The aim to play on the deck generally came through Elliott Watt. Curtis Tilt and Adrian Mariappa kept things simple but Watt always showed, under pressure or not, and waited for the ideal play.
Forest Green tried to combat this in a few ways. The press was important. The wingers cut off the pass to the full-backs leaving the centre-backs with the option of going direct or playing into the centre on a slow and bobbly pitch. Tilt and Watt were the plays.
As soon as the pass to Watt was made, a winger would step inside supporting Stevens and whichever midfield was nearby, requiring Watt to make a quick decision and unable to turn out. If the ball was played to Tilt by either John or Watt, Stevens was on it. Tilt often used Cairns as a get out clause but on the occasion that was cut off by Dabo, Tilt was caught out and Forest Green scored.
At the other end, Bunker was almost permanently sat in front of the centre-backs, not leaving them to plug gaps in the centre, helping win aerial battles and snuffing out danger. The only time he did leave was when a crossing opportunity was coming. He would support the full-back and nearby winger, allowing Moore-Taylor and Inniss to stay in the box and defend the delivery rather than being dragged into areas they didn’t want to be in.
It was tough to get a read on Salford’s off ball work. With Forest Green showing little intention of playing out and drawing them on (understandable given the pitch), it was pretty standard stuff with most players having a man to mark and shifting across the pitch to leave the wide man on the opposite side free.
Forest Green had a clear belief that to win the game, they needed to avoid the centre and play percentage football. A lot of passes were played into the channel for Tilt and Mariappa to deal, often against Stevens, or towards the head of the centre-backs. In both cases, they aim was to get on seconds with them moving to a narrow 4-1-4-1 shape that made it difficult for Salford to get out with clearing their lines.
The most notable aspect of their play on the deck was that the full-back always received inside rather than on the touchline, with the ‘8’ inside and the winger wide, ensuring they had an out. This worked particularly from throw-ins where Bunker would take his marker and Brown or McCann would escape by dropping deep and spreading to the opposition full-back. The winger would then be on the touchline and that would be the chance to build.
There were a number of positional changes.
1: After 15 minutes, Kyle McAllister and Fankaty Dabo swapped wings.
2: At half-time, Luamba replaced Ingram. John moved to RB. Garbutt to LB. Luamba LW.
3: Bendle replaced the injured Bernard. Dabo moved from LW to RB. Bendle in CM. McCann to LW.
4: Lund for John. Bolton to RB. McAleny wide. Lund behind Smith.
5: N'Mai for McAleny. N’Mai moved to LW. Luamba to RW.
6: The two red cards led to both sides playing 4-4-1. Bunker and Watson moved to CB.
Players
For Salford, Elliott Watt stood out. Never fazed in possession and important to attacks. Matt Smith was typically powerful in attack while Bolton was industrious on the right.
For Forest Green, it has to be said that while Smith was excellent, Inniss was just as good and their battle was fantastic. Stevens never gave up the ghost despite giving up a fair amount physically against Tilt and Mariappa. McAllister was bright. McCann excellent.
Conclusions
My main takeaway from this game is that neither side is going to go down without a fight.
This wasn’t pretty. It probably wasn’t enjoyable for the neutral. Yet neither side shirked a challenge. Neither side showed any quit with their game plan. They were happy to do the ugly stuff.
I think it’s important to remember these sides are under new management. They’ve been struggling this season and the job for both Robinson and Deeney is to organise, get some points and do the nice stuff later.
And so we had some good battles. Inniss vs Smith was a proper old school clash. Stevens and Tilt had a good battle at the other end too with Stevens showing no quit. The midfields did a lot of scrappy stuff, winning seconds, running forward and driving towards the box.
I think you could see the difference between a side that had had one match under new management and one that had had five, Forest Green looking the stronger as each half went on.
Forest Green have to get out of their own way if they’re to survive. Five cards for dissent then a red card against Newport at 2-0 up. Losing a game they were on top of against Swindon. Conceding a late penalty and receiving a red here.
For Salford, the quality is there. They’re physically imposing. Decision making and consistency are the important next steps.