Salford City manager Karl Robinson was delighted after his side earned their first away win in four matches with a battling 3-1 victory at Barnet.
Josh Austerfield opened the scoring on his 50th appearance for the club, reacting quickest after his initial effort was saved to convert the rebound.
The visitors doubled their advantage when pressure from Kallum Cesay forced Nnamdi Ofoborh to turn Jorge Grant’s pass into his own net with an unfortunate sliding challenge.
Daniel Udoh turned home Kelly N’mai’s low cross after the break to put Salford in cruise control.
Oliver Hawkins pulled a late consolation goal back for the hosts when he forced the ball home from close range after goalkeeper Matthew Young had made a fine double save.
Following the match, Robinson hailed his side’s “perfect day” in the capital.
He said: “It was pleasing to see them take on what we’ve been working on in training and there was an element of that in the second goal.
“This is a difficult place to come and we had to play well to win.
“I thought we started poorly and Barnet were aggressive, which rushed us into doing things we don’t normally do.
“When the game was stopped for an injury, it gave us a chance to regroup and demand more from the players. It was pleasing to see our response.
“We stayed in the game, were compact and defended really well. A clean sheet probably would have been deserved after the first 15 minutes.
“We’ve got five key players injured and people don’t give this team enough credit. It’s a tough time around the camp but the group stuck together.”
Robinson reserved special praise for Austerfield, who has hit the ground running after a lengthy spell on the sidelines recovering from an injury.
He said: “Josh has been brilliant and he’s a big player for us. We recruited well in the summer to make sure others could stand up and be counted when injuries hit.”
50 games up for @JAusterfield17 🤝
A great performance to match 💪 pic.twitter.com/i1rVyiLPQH
— Salford City FC (@SalfordCityFC) December 21, 2025
While results elsewhere meant Salford remained sixth in League Two with the win, it took this season’s points tally to 36, the most ever at this stage of the season.
Karl Robinson’s side head into Christmas four points below top-of-the-tree Walsall and will look to make up ground on their promotion rivals against Harrogate Town on Boxing Day.
