Ammies step it up to see off Daggers
SALFORD worked hard to earn a place in the third round and manager Graham Alexander praised the players’ efforts.
“We’ve had two difficult games against Dagenham already and knew this would be tough,” he said. “The lads who came in today did well and I’m delighted with the commitment, two well-taken goals and a clean sheet.”
The Daggers had a lot of first-half possession yet found Salford’s inform defence hard to prise open. Angelo Balanta forced the home keeper into a save early on but at the other end Danny Lloyd just failed to turn home Adam Rooney’s low cross from the right.
The Ammies went ahead 11 minutes before the interval, courtesy of a move that had real quality. Kieran Glynn picked up possession on halfway and his powerful run took him to the edge of the area. A neat flick to the right found Rodney in space and he finished low past Elliot Justham.
An increasingly heavy rain fell after the restart and chances were pretty rare for both sides. Once again, the Daggers struggled to convert possession into opportunities, but Salford looked threaten-off ing on the break. Rodney’s surging run was curtailed by a fine Kenny Clark challenge and Lloyd’s freekick was pushed away by Justham.
Jack Munns did get the ball into the net for Dagenham, but the flag had gone up against sub Liam Bellamy. With nine minutes left Munns threaded a pass into the right of the area, where Bellamy’s low shot spun Carl Piergianni for a corner.
Salford got their second goal in the 83rd minute after Glynn’s composed touch helped to send Josh Askew racing away. A ball to the left found Lloyd, whose low cross was slid home by Mani Dieseruvwe.
Dagenham couldn’t find a response in the time that remained, leaving boss Peter Taylor a little disappointed. “We had plenty of good possession but couldn’t break Salford down. I can’t claim we missed chances because we didn’t create too much. To be fair they looked more dangerous seeing less of the ball.”
STAR MAN: Devante Rodney (Salford) ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★★★