New Year, Same Old Barra
- David Ingham
- Jan 2
- 4 min read
Salford City (H) - EFL League 2 - 1st January 2026
There was a time when Salford carried with them a sheen of showbiz glamour - they were the ‘fancy dan’ club that attracted the extra attention of being the media darlings and whilst that’s no longer the case, what they’ve evolved into is a solid, upward looking League 2 outfit. The Class of 92 star quality has been diluted by the involvement of American megacorps like AIG and in the moneypit that is English football, hard cash is needed more than the part-time patronage of someone who won medals during the Blair years.
Salford’s gaffer, Karl Robinson, had predicted that it would be cold and windy during his Dec 29th post-match and so it came to pass. The Holker Street wind and ice machine turned up to about 8 on the scale and the received wisdom that in League 2 you have to win the battle first was underlined and written in bold. With both teams focused on battling the conditions and then each other, the game was low on flowing football throughout the game. Salford went ahead with the first real chance of the game - a ball out wide to N’Mai, we failed to deal with the threat as it came inside and Udoh produced a smart finish on the turn. 0-1 and as my legs had already started to seize up in the cold, I did ponder cutting my losses there and then. But we need to dig in - at that point of the game and the season as a whole - so I girded my loins and stuck it out. This low wattage display of fortitude was rewarded ten minutes later as a Whitfield cross found Fletcher in the middle who nodded home.
The rest of the half was relatively quiet - a Jackson free kick whipped beyond the near post; MJ Williams snuffing out a Cole Stockton half chance and the resultant corner tipped over the bar although the ref gave a goal kick. The first ominous sign that the man in the middle had eyesight issues.
Half time saw the ‘Tyre Pressure Challenge’ pay out for the first time and the temperature continue to drop whilst gossip percolated as to the identity of the new manager and potential new signings. Gallagher for the top job and Acquah to return on loan? Or were my lugs frozen and it's Big Emile in the hot seat and PG tipped to go up front. Anything’s worth a try, to be fair.
Neil McDonald’s random substitution generator was also still frozen as we came back for the second half unchanged. The quality remained sporadic and the first incident of note was around the 56 minute mark. A poor Stanway kick was picked up by Salford and Williams pulled out an orange card-worthy challenge to stop the counter in its tracks. To be fair, if he’d have connected properly then the airborne Ammie would have cleared the ressa. Stanway redeemed himself by repelling the ensuing free kick.
On 65 a Jackson cut inside came to nowt then a minute later he produced a great cross which Smith met at the far post and hit the bar. Was that ‘the’ chance? Sadly, yes.
A flurry of changes for both sides and we swapped out Harper, Smith and Fletcher for Newby, Mahoney and Cameron in the course of a few minutes. McDonald justified the changes in the name of being attacking and wanting to take the three points but to me it was weakening us down the middle and, to be honest, a point would have been a good result, there was no need to roll the dice for a maximum. Take the point, widen the gap between us and the dotted line of doom. Pfft, what do I know?
Sure enough, on 83, the killer blow came. A poor pass from Whitfield was intercepted, Salford sprung forward at pace through our hollowed out midfield and the provider for the first – N’Mai –twisted Williams into knots before firing past Stanway. Fair play, it’s the sort of goal I’d love to see us score more often but we don’t have the pace/quality/both to do it. Ho hum.
Encouragingly there was no mass exodus from the stands and we had a final flurry for an equaliser. As injury time ticked away a strong handball shout was turned down by the ref who subsequently blew for time 4.5 minutes into the minimum of 5 added on. Refs, eh? The consensus as I mooched out of the ground and across Asda car park was that we did ok, deserved a draw etc so no sign of mutiny in the air but the fragile nature of life in the lower reaches of League 2 means that if our wretched home form continues much longer then rage may foment once again.
So, let’s get Bristol Rovers out of the way and get properly in gear for the second half of the season. New manager. New players at both ends of the pitch and let’s say goodbye to a few who haven’t worked out.
We know what needs doing – crack on.
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