Neil Wood said Callum Hendry’s wonder strike to claim a point for Salford in Friday’s League Two clash with fellow promotion chasers Stockport County was illustrative of the striker’s technical quality.
Hendry rifled home a stunning 25-yard volley six minutes after half-time at a sold-out Edgeley Park for the 25-year-old’s fifth goal in seven matches.
Stockport were the superior side in the opening half but could not add to Connor Evans’ sixth-minute goal. Paddy Madden struck the post from eight yards around the quarter-hour but the hosts’ threat gradually receded and it was Salford that made most of the running following Hendry’s leveller.
“Callum has that quality, we see it every day in training,” said Salford boss Wood after the 1-1 draw. “It was a high-level goal, technically very good. He has that in him and is one of a handful of players on the pitch who could see that.
“The important thing for him is the role he’s performing for the team and his workrate. He’s one of the best in the league when the ball is played into his feet, his touch is outstanding.
“If he’s not scoring, he’s working hard for the team and creating goals. I am really pleased for him, it was a real moment of quality. Every striker wants to score goals and to have that confidence. For me and the team the work he is doing is more important than the goals.
“The crowd was amazing, every player wants to play in front of full stadiums. It was a great night for League Two football, seeing a crowd like this and a hard-fought game.”
Stockport preserved the only League Two unbeaten home record in 2023 but the Hatters’ tilt at automatic promotion is being harmed by points dropped in draws.
Their past four home games have finished all-square, while manager Dave Challinor’s side have scored only four goals in their past seven matches overall.
Challinor pinpointed Madden’s attempt against the woodwork as the key moment and bemoaned the lack of punishment for treatment meted out to centre-forward Kyle Wootton.
He said: “It was a really high-intensity game between two good teams. When it went to 1-1 at the back of the second half, both teams wanted to win but not at the cost of losing.
“Moments decide games. Paddy was the width of a post from putting us 2-0 up and if he had I’d have really fancied us to win the game. It was after 15 minutes and would have put us on the front foot and got this place to a different level from where it was.
“Then they scored a worldie. It is tough, we knew how important the game was but it wasn’t to be. If we could get a free-kick on Kyle Wootton it would be pretty pleasing. Some of the treatment he gets is a shambles: horrendous, absolutely horrific.
“We are fortunate he is pretty level headed and cracks on with things. Maybe he needs to be more whingey.”
