THERE was nothing to choose between the sides in the opening ten minutes although Ramsbottom's new signing Jamie Taylor was causing the home defence a few problems.

Twice he linked up with Russell Brierley and twice had shots blocked, first by defender Dave Brown and then by goalkeeper Phil Melville.

At the midway point of the half Ramsbottom keeper Martin Campbell made an excellent save from striker Tony Carroll. Carroll then had the ball in the net but was clearly offside and the strike was ruled out.

As the first half ended Salford put in a strong attacking spell but the Ramsbottom defence remained solid with Steve Sheil putting in a sterling performance.

Ramsbottom looked in much better form than recent weeks and started the second half with some fine football that almost brought a goal. Brierley did well to get on the end of Phil Porter's cross only to see the ball go inches wide of the far post.

On 60 minutes Taylor pressurised the Salford defence, got flattened in the process, the referee played advantage and David Yorke-Robinson raced away to cross into the danger area where Brierley steered the ball past Melville to put the Rams in front.

Karl Margison then brought another good stop from Campbell with a 20 yard free kick. As the minutes ticked away Salford became desperate for an equaliser and pushed forward in increasing numbers, producing a spell of sustained pressure.

Ramsbottom then counter attacked and then industrial Brad FRanks, who had worked tirelessly in midfield should have made the points safe when he fired over the top from eight yards with just Melville to beat. A further Ramsbottom break had the City defence all over the place but when the ball finally came to Steve Brennan he shot straight at Melville.

Two minutes from time Salford grabbed an equaliser when Matty Hughes struck a tremendous half volley into the top corner of the net. In the end a draw was a fair reflection of the game but Ramsbottom could have taken all three points had they taken just one of the two excellent chances that came their way when leading 1-0.

RESULT: SALFORD CITY 1 RAMSBOTTOM UTD 1