Ground: Peninsula Stadium (capacity 5106)
Location: Salford, England Ticket price: £18
The Peninsula Stadium is a 50-55 minute walk through the estates of Salford from Salford Central station. You will need to walk through the university on the way there.
Alternatively, bus and tram routes serve Salford from Manchester and Bury. Bus 93 is the one to look out for.
Salford City is one of those clubs which feels like it's in conflict with itself. It's a club that's clearly embracing the radical change it's experienced since the takeover of the Class of 92 in 2014, but a club that still somewhat yearns for those days where every supporter, young and old, knew each other by name.
Walking to the club shop, the man on the stand was having a chat with one of the other stewards, reminiscing of the days where Stalybridge were a regular opponent. Today, they face Leyton Orient, the first placed side in League 2.
Standing on the West Stand it was clear what the topic of the day was going to be. "Richie Wellens is a wanker!" the Salford faithful cried out to their southern opposition. "Gary Neville is a wanker" and, "Fuck off you Sky bastards" were uttered in response. Wellens had been a manager for both clubs, joining Salford City from Swindon Town in 2020 and departing a year after. In that time, he guided the club to the Papa John's Trophy. The ex-defender was now in charge of Leyton Orient, who at the start of the day were 7 points clear at the top. They had only won 1 in 5 coming into the game, whereas Salford had collected a few wins under their belt.
Darren Pratley and Adrian Mariappa were not players I was expecting to see but at 38 and 36 respectively, these respected professionals were lining up against each other as they had done many times before. Mariappa himself was a new signing for Salford and was making his debut in this match. He spoke in the programme about his excitement of playing for Salford and how he relishes playing in big matches such as this one against the Orient. I was intrigued to see if he would rise up to the occasion.
The first half was fairly frustrating to watch for both sides. Wellens is well known for being an advocate of attacking football and does not believe that direct play is sustainable in the long term, however Salford were plugging the gaps in midfield well to stop Orient from playing in between the lines. Orient did have a secondary game plan though - to target left back Ibou Touray. On the rare occasion where Orient breached the opposition's press, they would release the ball down Touray's flanks, cutting him in ribbons in the process. When he tried to mark, another runner would drag him out of position. When the ball was played to feet, Touray was drawn in like a moth to a light, then the light would turn off and the Gambian international would find himself in shock, his pupils dilated. Five times they worked their way through Touray's flank, the first drawing a good save from Alex Cairns. The second time however, after the winger cut in and shot, the ball fall to the feet of Ruel Sotiriou after a flurry of desperate defending to blast it into an unguarded net. Alex Cairns then came up trumps again with a strong hand before Touray's flank was exposed again, and this time it was George Moncur who ghosted towards the right post and fired it in from close range. Neil Wood's side looked out of ideas; their gameplan wasn't working.
The second half saw Salford come out with a point to prove as they went on the march looking for a way back into the game. They will have known that Orient have had a run of straight score draws coming into the game so there was always a chance that if they grab one, another good chance could present itself. That chance came at around the middle of the second half, which saw keeper Lawrence Vigouroux make a superb save, springing to his right to keep out a stinging low drive heading into the far corner. Vigoroux was then at hand again, getting his fingertips onto a stinging shot and tipping it onto the post. the Salford fans were watching with their mouths agape; struggling to understand how this was still 2-0. Orient did have chances of their own, but not chances of sufficient enough quality that they could put the game beyond a reasonable doubt.
Vigouroux's two saves earned his team the win and in my opinion, was the team's standout player. Aside from those two saves, he commanded his area well and looks assured when performing his goalkeeping duties.
All in all, good fun. Salford City is a club that doesn't deserve the flak it gets in my opinon. Sure, they're owned in-part by Gary Neville, a man people love to hate, but there's still a strong sense of community within the club; fans who have stuck by watching their team back from when the Penninsula Stadium was little more than a field, and those fans deserve to be commended. It's not the fault of the fans who owns Salford City at the end of the day, and Neville and co. do seem to truly care about the club at least.
Salford City 0-2 Leyton Orient 07/04/23
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