Salford manager Karl Robinson said it felt “strange to watch” his side capitulate in nine first-half minutes as they were beaten 3-1 by play-off rivals Grimsby Town.
Salford had been the only side to fashion an attempt on goal before Grimsby scored three times in nine minutes to surge into a commanding 3-0 lead before half-time.
Ammies supporters who had made the trip to Blundell Park were offered a glimmer of hope after 53 minutes when striker Cole Stockton scored for the second game running.
But the damage had been done, and on an occasion when Salford suffered early injuries to four key starters, a disbelieving Robinson was left rueing his luck.
He said: “We started well, and I thought we looked by far the better team for 30 minutes, but losing Kelly N’Mai so early was a catastrophe.
“It was strange to watch because it felt like a game where we had complete control tactically, and they didn’t break through any of our zones, but it was just one of those things.”
Grimsby went ahead after 33 minutes when Keiran Green powered a header from a Charles Vernam corner past Matty Young.
The Mariners doubled their lead six minutes later as a cross from Green broke for Vernam, who slotted home from inside the area.
In the lead-up to the second Grimsby goal, Vernam drove forward from the left-hand side in his own half before switching the ball to Green on the right wing.
Robinson felt that midfielder Ben Woodburn would have plugged a gap in the midfield and might have prevented the goal had he not been suffering from an injury.
He explained: “Ben Woodburn got hurt as well, and the fact that he couldn’t run led to their second goal, but it was just a mad moment in the game where we gave up the three goals.”
Jude Soonsup-Bell added Grimsby’s third goal after 42 minutes as he headed home Darragh Burns’ in-swinging cross from the centre of the penalty area.
Centre-back Alfie Dorrington and midfielder Ossama Ashley – who replaced Woodburn before the interval – were substituted early in the second half.
“Not one of our substitutions in this game was tactical because we had so many injuries and there wasn’t enough on the pitch from our perspective to stop their ‘eights’ from getting through in that short period where they scored the goals,” Robinson clarified.
“With a few tweaks we could have hurt them again, but in that nine minutes before the break, some of our players lost complete control.”
Salford dropped to ninth place in League Two with the defeat at Grimsby and face a stern test against 10th-placed Barnet in their next game at the Peninsula Stadium on Saturday, 3pm kick-off.
