Salford City secured promotion to the Football League with a 3-0 victory over AFC Fylde at Wembley.

Goals from Carl Piergianni, Ibou Touray, and Mani Dieseruvwe gave the Manchester club the victory on the day. 

It means that Salford have secured their second promotion in as many years and that they will be playing in League Two next season, alongside already promoted Leyton Orient. 

Story of the game


Fylde made a bright start to the game and almost netted the opener inside 60 seconds. Dan Bradley was able to get down the left-hand side of the Salford box and put in a driven cross which just evaded Alex Reid bursting through. 

Salford's first chance came from Right Back Scott Wiseman, the ball broke to him on the edge of the box but his volley went just wide of the goal. Some great link-up play between Wiseman and Devonte Redmond allowed the latter to cut it back. It landed at  Danny Whitehead's feet but his effort went well over the bar. 

Salford did get the opening goal of the game. A free-kick from the left was poorly dealt with by Fylde and, Dieseruvwe latched onto the loose ball and calmly put it past Jay Lynch in the Fylde net. 

After the opener, Fylde struggled to really get a foothold in the game and struggled to really put the Salford defence under any real pressure. 

Redmond again put in a delightful ball and it was met this time by Nathan Pond but his header went just wide. 

Fylde's first chance in a while fell to Bradley. The midfielder picks it up about 25 yards out but his shot drags wide of the post. Like buses, when you wait for one chance another comes very quickly. Nick Haughton teed up Danny Rowe and his shot at goal is well turned away by Chris Neal. The Resulting corner came to nothing of note. 

Fylde were almost level just a couple of minutes later. Excellent link-up play between Haughton and Andy Bond. The Latter has a shot which goes just over the crossbar. 

Fylde had another great chance, just before the break. Ryan Croasdale cut in from the right-hand side and let off a powerful drive which went just wide. 

Salford had the opening chance of the second half. A Great ball across from the right from Wiseman found the head of Dieseruvwe, but his powerful header went just wide of the post. 

Salford doubled their lead, just seven minutes into the second half. A brilliant short corner routine led to a brilliant cross in from the right from Touray was met by Piergianni and he powered his header into the Fylde net. 

Fylde had a number of half chances but nothing really that troubled Neal in the Salford goal.

Salford added a third just after the hour mark. Touray burst down the left and his driven cross ended up, clipping the post and went in. 

Fylde did have a lot more of the ball after the third goal but really did struggle to break down the resilient Salford defence. 

Salford withstood all the pressure superbly and easily saw out the win.

Embed from Getty Images

Takeaways from the game


The Class of 92 project continues

Five years ago, a few members of the famous class of 92, decided to invest in Salford City and today they achieved an enormous step in that project. Salford have made it back to back promotions and four promotions in five years. The Neville brothers, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, and David Beckham each own a 10% share in the club and when they took over, Salford finished 12th in the Northern Premier League Divison One, now they are in League Two in five years. Who knows where this team can go. 

Embed from Getty Images

No Rooney No Problem

Salford were without their top scorer Adam Rooney for the entirety of this game but they did not miss him in the slightest. Salford may not have had a tonne of chances in front of goal but when they did get an opportunity they took them with great aplomb. They got goals from all around the pitch today which shows that when their star man is missing they can still get the job done. 

Fylde lacked a clinical edge

In comparison to Salford, Fylde created a lot of chances but could not take a single one of them. They moved the ball superbly at times but it was just that final blow that could not land. Granted Salford's backline was superb throughout and did throw themselves in front of a lot of what Fylde was throwing at them but Fylde were generally quite wasteful.

This was quite nicely summed up by Rowe's free-kicks which both cannoned off of the wall and were easily cleared. Just getting to the final was a massive achievement for the club and if they learn their lessons from this year, hopefully, they can put it right next season. 

Man of the Match


Ibou Touray 

This was a toss-up between Touray and Redmond today but the fact that the left back got on the scoresheet and set up one is the reason he gets it today. 

Touray's delivery was devasting at times and he was able to pick out his teammates and create a number of good chances for his side. Did his defensive duties very well as well and stopped Fylde from really creating much down that side. 

VAVEL Logo
About the author