Richie Wellens bemoans ‘testimonial’ early second-half display after Salford win

Boss Richie Wellens bemoaned a “testimonial” performance early in the second half as Salford made hard work of beating Barrow 1-0 at The Peninsula Stadium.

Ian Henderson scored his 10th League Two goal of the season after an awful mistake by Barrow defender Bobby Thomas as Salford maintained their unbeaten home record to move up to fourth.

“I thought at times we were pretty good in the first half,” said Wellens.

“Then we kicked off the second half and for the first 10 minutes we played like it was a testimonial.

“We kept the ball for decent periods but didn’t really go anywhere, ask any questions, no midfield runners or balls in behind.

“So the game drifted away from us. Credit to Barrow, they stuck in there, switched play really well and caused us problems for the last 20 minutes.

“It was a really difficult game to prepare for. We usually give the players every last detail of the opposition and how we are going to play and what they are going to do.

“But with the postponements of recent weeks, we didn’t give them much information and just concentrated on what we would try and do.

“There were a lot of positives from the first half an I can’t take any credit from that, the players worked it out.

“We are getting Ian Henderson into different positions and asking other people to do his running. His runs were very good and he is an excellent professional and I just hope he keeps scoring every week.

“If you want to win promotion or win leagues you will need six or seven 1-0 wins a season.

“I just think we were a little bit mentally tired today, rather than physically. And sometimes that can happen. But the players adjusted and got the three points.”

Barrow boss Michael Jolley saw positives from his side despite another defeat that leaves them in the bottom two.

“I thought there was nothing in the game,” he said. “I can’t remember a particularly clear chance throughout the whole game that was actually created.

“I think it was a really tight game with nothing between the two teams. The game has been decided really by one defensive mistake but we win and lose as a team.

“I saw a lot of positives from our team and we stayed in the game right until the death. We worked hard to get back into it but we have come away empty-handed despite what I thought was a decent performance.

“The goal was just an individual error. He is not the first player to make a mistake and he won’t be the last.

“I said to him at half-time that what was important was how he reacted to it and how he came through it, and I thought in the second half he had a good half, kept his head up and kept playing.

“We deal with these things collectively and move forward.

“I saw a lot of aspects of our play that I liked. I thought we looked threatening on set plays and I thought our shape was good, our energy was good.

“Some of our football could have been tidier but we were more than in the game against one of the teams who are expected to be in the promotion places so we can take some solace from that.

“But it is about getting points on the board and we need to do that.

“Salford have a good manager and some good players they have brought in on a big budget and I’m sure they’ll do well this season.”