Chorley 0, Salford 1

A high tempo often bruising battle was settled in the visitors’ favour by a scrappy first half goal at Victory Park.

And though Chorley fought tenaciously throughout the second half and often had Salford at full stretch they could not find the killer ball to unlock a massed defence.

Salford even survived the last 13 minutes with 10 men after substitute Joshua Askew was shown a straight red card for a lunging challenge on Andy Teague.

There were few clear-cut chances in a frantic first half but Michael Nottingham got the all-important goal on 37 minutes with a deflected shot following a ball into the box that was not properly cleared.

Dale Whitham almost hit back for Chorley with a 30 yards screamer which flew inches over the bar.

The second half was increasingly one-way traffic towards the Salford goal although City substitute Anthony Dudley almost doubled the lead in a rare breakaway, firing a tremendous shot just over the bar.

At the opposite end, Josh O’Keefe went close with a header and Josh Wilson’s stinging drive was brilliantly repelled by keeper Max Crocombe.

Late Chorley pressure was persistent but in the end unproductive as a series of half chances were blocked or off target.

Though disappointed by the result, manager Matt Jansen was pleased with his side’s performance.

“Sometimes you don’t get what you deserve in football,”he said.

“I asked the lads at the end of the game how did they think they played compared to the game against Kidderminster?

“They said that they played as well if not bette

“We got the result against Kidderminster – we didn’t get the result against Salford.

“We were far better than Salford in my opinionand they are odds-on favourites to win the league.”