PARTY POLITIC LEADS AMMIES
TWO goals midway through the first half put Salford City on the road to victory, extending the club’s unbeaten league run to 20 matches.
Leading scorer Adam Rooney got the ball rolling, with Dennis Politic adding a second a minute later.
The Hawks came back strongly after the break only for Danny Whitehead’s strike five minutes into stoppage time put an end to any lingering hopes of salvaging a point.
It was a result to leave Ammies boss Graham Alexander satisfied, saying: “The first 15 minutes were quite even but those two goals put us in control. We defended well after the break when we needed to and dealt with their attempts to break us down.”
Both sides looked inventive during the opening stages but Salford lost midfielder Liam Nolan to injury on 10 minute, Politic coming in to replace him.
The pattern of the game changed dramatically after the Ammies went ahead in the 22nd minute. Whitehead’s lofted pass from wide on the left was a beauty finding Rooney, who displayed deft control on the edge of the area then advanced a few yards to slot low past Ben Dudzinski.
The Hawks were still reeling from that blow when Salford went two up, barely a minute later. On-loan midfielder Politic picked up possession before advancing, virtually unchallenged, on a run that took him to the edge of the area. Dudzinski got down to his left but the ball squeezed home inside the upright to give the Ammies a commanding lead.
Hawks Lee Bradbury threw on an extra forward at half time and his side responded well to the change. Jonah Ayunga’s blistering run and low cross from the right found fellow sub Nicke Kamaba but luck was against the Hawks’ striker as his outstretched foot could only lift the ball over from five yards.
Agunga launched an angled piledriver from the right after that, with Chris Neal making a good parrying save, while Alfie Rutherford teed up Kabamba on the hour, but Neal was able to push his low shot away to safety.
A good spell for Havant but they hadn’t managed to grab what could have been a pivotal goal. Salford regained control, starting to create more chances and deep into injury-time Whitehead found space to guide a rising effort into the top corner to seal Salford’s win.
Havant manager Bradbury was honest in his assessment, adding: “We missed our chances, they took theirs. We made mistakes at the back and they didn’t.”
STAR MAN: Dennis Politic (Salford) ATT: 2,181 ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★★★ REFEREE: Matthew Dicicco 6/10