Neil Wood hails ‘fantastic’ Matt Smith after hat-trick display in win at Grimsby

Posted Friday, December 30, 2022 by PA

Salford boss Neil Wood praised hat-trick hero Matt Smith after his clinical display helped gun down Grimsby in Sky Bet League Two.

Smith set the tone with a first-minute opener and scored twice more before half-time in a convincing 4-1 win for the promotion chasers.

Ethan Galbraith also netted, with Otis Khan replying for the mid-table hosts at Blundell Park.

Wood said: “Matt Smith was fantastic. As I’ve said all along, if we get the right service into him and with quality, he will score goals.

“His hold-up play was excellent, he linked things up and was a threat.

“It’s always nice to win and it was a good score to go with the result.

“We deserved to win and were outstanding in the first half. We took our chances well even though it was a tough game. It was always going to be a battle.

“Grimsby are one of the better teams that we have played this season.

“It was an enjoyable win. We were clinical with our chances when maybe this season we’ve been guilty of not being clinical.

“That was pleasing. We are improving going forward and you can see that.”

Grimsby manager Paul Hurst added: “In the second half, they saw the game out and didn’t need to over-commit.

“We had opportunities to reduce the arrears to see if we could then get the crowd involved and make them a little edgy.

“But we didn’t take them and that’s why we’re talking about a 4-1 defeat.

“When the goals go in as they did, it’s hard to take. I think the first one is a good finish, but we looked half asleep.

“We got back into the game and had the crowd involved, playing on the front foot and then another bad decision sees us fall behind.

“There is a little bit of luck with their third and then with the fourth you are always left with an uphill struggle.”

It was a lightning start from Salford as Smith volleyed home inside 50 seconds after being picked out by captain Ibou Touray.

Grimsby hit back through Khan, who finished a well-worked move that also involved John McAtee and summer signing Danilo Orsi.

Galbraith made it 2-1 to the visitors after picking up a bad clearance from Max Crocombe before slotting into the bottom corner.

Despite their dominance, Salford needed an element of fortune for their third when Smith kicked the ball against his standing leg to deceive a stranded Crocombe. He completed his hat-trick with a trademark header.

Grimsby made three changes at half-time in their unlikely attempt to salvage a route back into the game, but one low strike from McAtee aside they created little while Salford were happy to see out their victory.