By George Liley
A superb Tom Day finish saw Halifax secure a hard fought victory over a valiant Wentworth side. Despite voicing early criticisms in light of their drubbing against Vanbrugh the previous week, Wentworth supporters should now take a step back and marvel at their side’s spirited effort and determination this morning on 22 acres.
Despite being strong favourites heading into the game, Halifax struggled early on to break down Wentworth’s well organised back four, commanded by the two centre halves Carl Hodgeson and Matt Lakins. Halifax found early dominance in midfield and the contest was quickly dictated by the touch and vision of Ash Daley. The central midfielder was able to pull the strings from the middle of the park and orchestrate the Halifax attack, in particular utilising the two wings to find space in behind the Wentworth defence. Ben Rea caused problems down the right throughout the first forty-five minutes, using his skill and pace to regularly find ground deep inside the Wentworth half. Halifax’s well constructed forays forward were often met with Wentworth counter-attacks, and the early stages of the match produced some riveting end to end action.
Wentworth’s striker Dom Green became the target man up front, and should have done better when he scuffed a poor free-kick into the wall to waste a decent chance early on. Halifax striker Connor Brennan offered the first real efforts on goal but his long range strikes were easily stopped by Wentworth keeper Mladen Sormaz.
The best of the action came from Halifax in the first half as they took control of the midfield, and before the end of the first period they went 1-0 up. Minutes before half time, a lapse in Wentworth concentration allowed Ash Daley to find room to run in, exchange balls with Rea and the resultant cross eventually fell to winger Tom Day, who clinically lofted the ball into the back of the net with expert precision to put Halifax ahead.
The second half saw much of the same, as Halifax enjoyed the majority of possession and increasingly looked threatening from both wings. The pace of the Halifax squad shone through as doubts about Wentworth’s fitness began to creep in. Day and Rea were exceptional in attack, and were able to link well with a dangerous Connor Brennan up front. Further support was found in the shape of Matt Morsley, who fired a long range thunderbolt against the inside of Wentworth’s post midway through the half.
Wentworth however kept a good shape and defended stoutly to keep the opposition at bay, yet despite several attacks of their own it was only a matter of time before Halifax broke through again. Ben Rea tore inside from the right and was chopped down under a poorly timed tackle to gift Halifax a penalty and a chance to put the game to bed. Scorer Tom Day confidently stepped up but could only smash the ball safely into the arms of Wentworth keeper Sormaz, who demonstrated excellent agility to get down to the strike.
The last minutes of the match saw a fast paced finale with both sides pushing to find the all-important goal. However Halifax held their nerve and their lead to emerge victorious, with team captain Tom Ragan commenting after the game: “It was a very tough victory but it has shown that we need to give everything, every week from now on.” Both sides can take much from this fixture; Halifax’s relentless attacking play was at times a joy to watch and Wentworth came out determined after last week’s poor performance, proving that they have enough fight to seriously compete in college football this year.