Boss Neil Wood hails Salford spirit after late win over Sutton

Salford boss Neil Wood praised his side’s “never-say-die” spirit after another late show sealed a 2-1 win over 10-man Sutton.

Josh Neufville handed the hosts the lead in the 62nd-minute, but Donovan Wilson’s dismissal six minutes later changed the game.

Goals in the 80th and 87th minutes from Matty Lund and Ryan Watson turned the match on its head and inflicted Matt Gray’s side’s first home league defeat of the season.

Wood said: “I think never-say-die sums us up really well.

“We’ve had a few games now where we’ve gone right to the end.

“Stevenage we win late, we’ve scored late goals and today we’ve scored two in the last 10 minutes.

“We showed we don’t stop, we keep going to the end. We’ve got good fitness levels, we’ve got good quality.

“We’ve got good strength to bring off the bench and it’s really pleasing to get the three points.”

Asked about the impact of Wilson’s red card, for an off-the-ball incident, Wood added: “Maybe the sending-off changed it. But up until that point I thought it was a game which lacked quality.

“I thought we’d prepared for a game like that, defending long balls and flick-ons. We knew what was coming.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be an amazing spectacle to watch. We knew we’d need to battle it out.

“When the time came to play our football we knew we had to take our chances and we did.”

Neufville fired the hosts in front when his volley flew in off a post, but the dismissal allowed the Ammies back into the match.

Lund levelled before Watson secured all three points.

Salford goalkeeper Jacob Chapman, making his Football League debut, ensured the points with a last-ditch save at full-stretch to keep out Kylian Kouassi.

Gray felt the red card was crucial.

He said: “I was very pleased with the performance before the sending-off.

“I felt fully in control of the game and then the sending-off has turned it.

“The official said he’s kicked somebody off the ball. I’m massive on discipline at the club, not just in yellow and red cards, but also in committing fouls in dangerous areas.

“Unfortunately, a little bit of lack of discipline which is unlike us as a club has not given us the win we thoroughly deserved.

“I felt our shape was excellent for a good 10 or 12 minutes after the sending-off.

“I felt fully in control and we looked a danger on the counter-attack.

“Their first goal comes out of nothing and for them to go and get the second and then win the game is extremely harsh on us.

“We created a couple of moments and could have easily have got something out of the game. A point would have been the least we deserved.”