EXILES LET IT SLIP AS SALFORD HIT BACK FOR THE WIN
SALFORD CITY ................... 3 NEWPORT COUNTY ........... 1
NEWPORT County suffered a second defeat on the spin as they let a one-goal lead slip to lose 3-1 at Salford
City.
County, who saw their five-game unbeaten run ended by Sutton United at Rodney Parade last week, led against the run of play through Harry Charsley.
But Salford levelled before the break and two second-half goals from the hosts left Graham Coughlan’s men 18th in League Two, still 11 points clear of the bottom two.
Coughlan made two changes from the defeat by Sutton with Nathan Moriah-Welsh coming in for Scot Bennett in central midfield and Omar Bogle replacing Offrande Zanzala up front.
The Exiles strikers saw little of the ball in the opening stages as the hosts started brightly.
Goalkeeper Joe Day was busy as he dived low to his left to keep out Ethan Galbraith’s effort from distance and then saved Ibou Touray’s stinging shot from the edge of the area.
Coughlan’s men struggled to create chances early on, but they grew into the game and took a surprise lead with their first shot on goal after 29 minutes.
Defender Priestley Farquharson was the creator. He picked out Charsley in space in the area and the midfielder produced a crisp finish into the bottom left-hand corner of the net for his first goal in County colours. The goal came against the run of play, but Bogle had two chances to extend the Exiles’ lead before the break.
The former Cardiff City striker was first played in by Manchester United loanee McNeill, and his cheeky dink was well tipped wide by onrushing Salford stopper Alex Cairns.
Bogle then made some space for himself with some clever footwork before a long-distance strike that was again well saved by Cairns.
But Salford rallied, forcing Day into a sensational stop as he pushed a header from Louie Barry from a few yards out onto the bar before the keeper produced another brilliant save, down to his left, to push substitute Conor McAleny’s shot onto the upright.
The pressure finally told in the first minute of stoppage time at the end of the first half as Callum Hendry pounced on a loose ball and rifled it in.
That was no less than Salford deserved for their first-half display, and they carried that momentum into the second half as they forged ahead within 45 seconds of the restart.
Hendry teed up McAleny, who found the bottom right corner of the net from outside the box.
Charsley, twice, and Aaron Lewis went close for County but they couldn’t force their way back into the game and Matt Smith added a third in stoppage time to wrap up the win for promotion hopefuls Salford.