Salford dig in for big point

SALFORD City were left counting their lucky stars as they weathered a Cheltenham Town onslaught, with Richie Wellens dubbing the 0-0 result ‘one of the best points’ of his managerial career.

The travelling Robins, who sit second in League Two, nearly opened the scoring inside eight minutes after a moment of inspiration from Alfie May – the forward controlling a cross before swivelling and striking a clean effort which hit the bar.

Ian Henderson had the Ammies’ best – and only genuine – opportunity of the fixture as he met a whipped delivery by Bruno Andrade, but the 35-year-old’s flicked attempt from inside the six-yard box sailed hopelessly wide of the target.

The normally reliable Vaclav Hladky was left breathing a sigh of relief on the half-hour mark when he mis-controlled an Alex Denny back-pass with the ball drifting narrowly wide of his own post.

However, the Czech stopper returned to his best a matter of minutes later with an impressive triple save, first denying George Lloyd in a one-on-one, then a low effort from Liam Sercombe while Finn Aziz was also unable to overcome Hladky from the rebound.

Lloyd again went close to breaking the deadlock for the visitors as his headed effort ricocheted off the woodwork, while another golden chance was squandered when May skewed over the bar.

Salford, who welcomed back James Wilson from injury after the ex-United striker’s five-week absence, eventually held on to preserve their unbeaten home league record.