Salford City 2-2 Stockport County: Hatters fight back to take a point at Ammies
- Published
- comments
Ibou Touray scored against his former side to get Stockport County off the mark and celebrated his first goal since scoring for the Ammies in their EFL Trophy win over Leeds U21s in November 2021
Stockport County came from two goals down in the second half to hold local rivals Salford City to a draw in an entertaining League Two fixture.
Isaac Olaofe equalised for the Hatters just 13 minutes after Ibou Touray halved the half-time deficit.
Luke Garbutt's early pile driver was added to by Curtis Tilt for Salford minutes before the break.
The result means Stockport trail League Two leaders Mansfield by two points, while the home side remain 20th.
Salford went in front through Garbutt's superb strike on eight minutes. He received the ball from Declan John and fired home, with his swerving shot giving Ben Hinchcliffe no chance.
It was a physical battle throughout, but Stockport struggled for rhythm in the first half. After 25 minutes, they tested Salford goalkeeper Alex Cairns for the first time and he did well to deny a driving Paddy Madden from an angle with his feet.
Fullback Ethan Bristow was forced off in the first half for Stockport, after damaging his shoulder in a clash with Junior Luamba with former Salford man Touray replaced him.
Moments later, Salford doubled their lead with their 17th headed coach in the league this season as Tilt nodded home from close range after Matt Smith's flick on.
Half-time brought a change in momentum for Stockport and five minutes after the break, they pulled a goal back when Touray scored his first goal for the Hatters having poked home from Madden's delivery.
Stockport substitute Rico Richards saw a golden opportunity pass him by when his left foot shot was deflected for a corner after he was played in by Kyle Wootton, who was causing plenty of problems for the Salford defence.
Madden then blasted over, but on 65 minutes, Olaofe raced through to meet another well-timed Wootton pass and level with a cool finish past Cairns.
Salford were shaken, and it showed. Luamba thought he should have had a penalty after a challenge in the area from Fraser Horsfall, but the referee waved away the protests.
Luamba then teed up Callum Hendrie on the edge of the area, but his shot, Salford's first of the second half, dragged wide to sum up the timid nature of their second half collapse.
Salford City boss Karl Robinson speaking to BBC Radio Manchester:
"I thought we were the better team in the first half but we allowed them to be good in the second. Some of our decision-making in the second half was extraordinary and baffling in some ways. We were so open and disconnected, which is not what I expect. When we are compact, aggressive, and together, we look at half decent team.
"We've had difficult games of late against high-quality opposition in Mansfield, MK Dons, and now Stockport. I hope some of these teams are in this league next year because they'll be a better version of us.
"In the first half, we won every battle because there was great control in our shape. We tried to win every battle in the second half but our shape is so poor; we got picked up on the outside shoulder and the inside shoulder.
"I will learn and we will learn, we will be better."
Stockport County boss Dave Challinor told BBC Radio Manchester:
"If I had been asked at half-time if I had taken a point, I'd have said you'd be daft not to. To get ourselves level with the amount of time that was left, we were massively in the ascendancy and probably should have gone on to win it.
"I'll take a point. I was really pleased with the reaction. If we can produce what we did in terms of character, forget about the performance, for the remaining 10 games then I think we'll be fine.
"Was this going to be a classic game with how the pitch looked? Absolutely not. You have to play your game, the opposition and the conditions and the conditions were the toughest out of all those three."