Salford City 0 Man Utd Under-21s 6

After such a strong opening by United, Salford began to find their footing in the encounter and created a number of half-chances, the best of which – Tom Elliott’s header – was comfortably held by Reds keeper Nathan Bishop on his debut.

Despite that, the Reds were still in the ascendancy and the ball was back in the Salford net just before the half-hour mark via Helm. However, the young striker was rightly ruled offside in the build-up.

United didn’t let that disappointment dampen our spirits, and, within minutes, we’d doubled the lead. Elanga capitalised on the hosts’ high defensive line and flew down the right wing, before picking out a perfectly placed Puigmal, who calmly slotted the ball home from a few yards out.

The Reds continued to come close with several dangerous crosses and Laird fired a shot over the bar around the 40-minute mark.

Salford’s Richie Towell had the last chance of note in the opening period, but his driven shot from outside the area flew wide of Bishop’s far post.