Manager Karl Robinson described Salford booking their place in the FA Cup fourth round for the first time with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Swindon as “a dream”.
Ryan Graydon opened his Salford account with a superb brace, scoring a precise looping header and slotting home coolly to give Robinson’s side a seemingly comfortable second-half lead.
But Ian Holloway’s men hit back when Michael Olakigbe crossed for Ollie Palmer to head in from close range and drew level on the hour mark through James Ball’s clever flick.
Luke Garbutt scored a superb 68th-minute free-kick to put Salford back ahead in the tie before Robins defender Ryan Tafazolli had a late goal ruled out for a foul as the Ammies earned a trip to the Etihad Stadium, where they will face Manchester City for the second successive season.
Robinson said: “We haven’t had an easy run to this point. We’ve been in some very difficult games and every team we have played against has been in the league above us.
“It is a testament to the players that they have managed to find their way through to this stage.
“Salford City in the FA Cup fourth round, this has been a dream for people. At the beginning it was ‘how do we get to the first round, how do we compete in the qualifying stages,’ and now we are here.
“I think we are a much better football club than people give us credit for.”
Swindon boss Holloway lamented his side’s poor fortune on a night when the tie could have gone their way.
He said: “It was another cracking game between two good teams, but it seems they’ve got a little bit of voodoo on us.
“I thought we started quite well before they went two up, but they were playing the conditions better than us and tried to play through the midfield too much.
“I then put two men up front and that worked so much better. We get back level again and then concede a very good free-kick – but was it a free-kick? And should we have had one?”
