Matt Mawdesley’s second half tap in was the difference as Halifax 1sts progressed to the semi-finals of the College Cup at the expense of a dogged Vanbrugh 2nds.
Mawdesley scored the only goal of the game, burying a bullet Hamish Denham long throw eight minutes into the second half to seal the victory for his side.
Vanbrugh will be disappointed at the manner of the goal, having defended solidly and kept Halifax at arms length for large periods of the game.
They were unable to deal with the power of Denham’s notorious long throw and Mawdesley reacted where the Vanbrugh defenders didn’t, stealing in at the back post to snap up the chance before running over to embrace his provider.
Halifax had control of the game from the off, but Vanbrugh were determined not to make it easy for them. Brewer and Robonson kept it tight in central defence, whilst Dan Shepherd and Callum Woodall worked tirelessly in central midfield to try and limit the creativity of Mawdesley and Daly.
It was Mawdesley who triggered Halifax’s first attack just two minutes into the game. He set Connor McCoy through down the left and the winger whipped in a delightful ball, which Dan Jones couldn’t steer past Williams in the Vanbrugh goal.
It was a let off for Vanbrugh, but things were evened up down the other end when a great chance for the underdogs to take the lead went begging.
Woodall robbed Mawdesley in midfield and spread the ball left to Parish, whose ball in was poor when Adam Lewis was waiting in space.
Despite Halifax controlling the game Vanbrugh did actually have the ball in the net first – a cracking half-volley from Dan Shepherd flew past Sim from 20 yards but play was pulled back for a Halifax free kick following a foul in the build up.
It was Day and Mawdesley who were causing most of the problems for Halifax. Day looked particularly dangerous when dropping deep whilst Mawdesley’s raking long passes down the right kept Cust on his toes.
It was a run down the middle from Mawdesley that almost gave ‘Fax the lead four minutes after the break however. He marauded through the centre and found Denham in space on the left but Vanbrugh right back Coy was too quick for him and the big centre forward couldn’t manage a clean shot on goal.
He had another great chance to score a minute later when Tom Day pulled the ball back across the D from the right, but Denham’s shot went straight at a defender when he should have done better.
He compensated with his missile of a throw however, with Mawdesley’s simple finish proving once again what a weapon the long throw can be on the JLD.
Vanbrugh’s best chance to snatch an equaliser cam on the 40 minute mark. Some good work from Lewis allowed him to find Shepherd, and the Vanbrugh captain shifted the ball left to Parish, whose powerful shot whistled just over Sim’s crossbar.
In truth though, Vanbrugh never really looked like breaking down a clearly stronger Halifax outfit.
Day and Daly fashioned two chances with some intricate inter-play late on for the men in white, both of which Daly shanked over the crossbar, before a harmless Tringham free-kick signalled full time and confirmed Halifax’s place in the semi-finals.
“We were okay today, we didn’t play our best,” said Halifax captain Matt Darling.
“It’s all about knockout now. We kept a clean sheet, we kept rock solid and now we go again in the semi-finals.”