Substitute Junior Luamba stepped off the bench to earn a hard-fought 1-0 win for Salford against AFC Wimbledon.
In a largely uneventful first period short of clear-cut chances, both sides lacked fluidity and were unable to sustain pressure in their opponent’s half.
Salford came closest to opening the scoring inside 14 minutes when livewire Kelly Nmai skilfully set up Cole Stockton to volley narrowly over the crossbar.
Stephen Negru headed Luke Garbutt’s clipped delivery tamely into the hands of Owen Goodman as Salford went into half-time on the front foot.
AFC Wimbledon believed they had taken the lead in the 74th minute when Jamie Jones spilled Omar Bugiel’s powerful back-post header close to his goal-line, but their claims were waved away by referee Scott Simpson.
Galvanised by their near escape, Salford broke the deadlock against the run of play after 83 minutes when Luamba calmly rolled Nmai’s square ball past Goodman
Salford rode their luck late on, twice scrambling the ball off the line as the visitors pressed for a last-gasp equaliser.
