03 October 2020

Ashley Hunter’s early goal proves enough for Salford at Stevenage

03 October 2020

Ashley Hunter’s early goal proved to be the difference as Salford grabbed a 1-0 victory at Stevenage.

The visitors led inside two minutes when Hunter capitalised on a misplaced back pass to score his second goal in two games.

Stevenage struggled to create and succumbed to a second successive defeat, while the visitors remain unbeaten and sit third in the early Sky Bet League Two table.

The winner came in the blink of an eye with Arthur Read’s botched back pass falling to the feet of Hunter, whose initial effort was blocked by Jamie Cumming, before he calmly tucked away the rebound.

Both sides had their fair share of chances, the best coming from Read’s thunderous strike just inside the box that produced a smart save from Vaclav Hladky.

The visitors thought they had doubled their lead shortly before the interval, but Jordan Turnbull’s flick over Cumming from Ibou Touray’s through ball was ruled out for offside.

In a near-repeat of the opening half, the visitors were in on goal seconds after the restart, with James Wilson’s close-range effort smacking against the crossbar before the home side cleared away.

Ian Henderson saw an effort rattle the woodwork and Emmanuel Dieseruvwe’s header was cleared off the line late on for Salford.

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