By Match report: Clinical Salford run out comfortable winners against lacklustre Town
Grimsby Town suffered a heavy home defeat to Salford City in League Two this evening.
A Matt Smith hat-trick and an Ethan Galbraith goal ensured a comfortable victory for the visitors, with Otis Khan grabbing the Mariners’ only goal in the 4-1 loss.
Paul Hurst decided to make three changes to the side that lost at Harrogate Town on Boxing Day, with Andy Smith, Anthony Glennon and Danilo Orsi returning to the side.
The game got off to a disastrous start for the Mariners, as Smith swept the ball home into the corner of the net following a good ball into the box with less than a minute played.
After a shaky opening 10 minutes, Town managed to create their first opportunity of the game when Khan dinked a ball towards John McAtee and his header – which looked destined to nestle into the top corner – was tipped around the post well by Tom King.
Some neat play down the right saw Orsi hold up the ball well and tee up Harry Clifton on the edge of the area, but his left-footed effort went sailing over the bar.
Their pressure eventually told shortly after that, though, as Khan picked up the ball inside the box, shifted it onto his left foot and guided it past the keeper into the far corner to bring his side level on 21 minutes.
The Mariners really had their tails up for the next few minutes following the goal, with Gavan Holohan finding space and having an effort blocked on the edge of the area before it could test King in between the sticks.
Salford then retook the lead after half an hour when Max Crocombe fizzed the ball into the feet of Holohan, who took a loose touch and was dispossessed midway through his own half by Galbraith and he raced through one-on-one to coolly slot his effort into the bottom corner.
The visitors extended their advantage even further just three minutes later, as Smith’s deflected strike looped over the keeper and into the net for his second of the evening and to make it a long way back for Town.
Five minutes before the break, Smith grabbed his hat-trick to make it a miserable half for the Mariners. A ball in found the big centre-forward free at the back post and he had the easy task of guiding his header into the corner of the net, leaving Crocombe without a chance.
There were no further goals before half-time, with Town going in three goals down and facing an uphill task to turn things around in the second half.
They went close to getting back into the contest a couple of minutes after the break, as some pressure by Khan caused a mix-up at the back for Salford and the winger almost had an open goal, but the ball rebounded off him and just wide.
Michee Efete then blazed over from inside the box after Orsi did well to bring down a difficult ball and set up the fullback.
With neither team really creating too much in front of goal, substitute Bryn Morris unleashed a fierce effort that just went over the bar as he looked to find a way back into the game for his side just past the hour-mark.
McAtee then forced King into a smart save with his feet, before a follow-up effort from Kieran Green went sailing over the bar.
The visitors had an excellent chance to extend their lead with just under 20 minutes left to play, as Odin Bailey picked up on a loose touch by Glennon and just couldn’t quite curl his shot past substitute Niall Maher, who did well to get in the way of the strike.
The game petered out in the last 15 minutes, with Salford running out comfortable winners on the night, as they took advantage of some poor Town defending.
