Daniel Udoh stepped off the bench to score the winning goal as Salford City battled to a hard-fought 1-0 win at bottom-of-the-league Harrogate Town.
The 29-year-old striker, absent for five games recovering from an injury sustained against Cheltenham in February, struck in the 85th minute on his return to the side to seal victory.
Salford began brightly inside a gloriously sunny Exercise Stadium and went close to opening the scoring after 10 minutes when Jorge Grant’s shot was saved by Henry Gray.
The Harrogate Town goalkeeper kept out a fierce drive from Josh Austerfield as the midfielder connected with a cleared Matt Butcher corner midway through the first half.
Cole Stockton missed a golden opportunity to put Salford ahead after 27 minutes when he latched onto the end of a flick on from Ryan Graydon, beat a covering defender and blazed wide of the target.
Luke Garbutt had an effort saved by Gray after the break as Salford continued to press for the opener, but found the on-loan Ipswich goalkeeper in inspired form.
But five minutes from time, Salford found a breakthrough in Yorkshire when substitute Fabio Borini played the ball to Udoh, who fired a low shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
The victory in Saturday’s early kick-off has lifted the side to fifth place in League Two
Karl Robinson’s men will take on struggling Barrow at the Peninsula Stadium on Tuesday 17 February, 7:45pm kick-off.
