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Photos: Jack Western
Halifax eased their way to a comfortable 2-0 win on the 3G against bottom of the table Langwith without really breaking out of second gear, and they were unlucky that they did not end up winning by a far greater score line.
Halifax took control immediately after kick with an early attack being saved by goalkeeper Kris Cheshire, the rebound however fell to a grateful Tim Earnshaw who slotted it into the net to give Halifax an early lead.
It quickly became clear that Halifax was completely dominant in all areas of play, for much of the first half the ball rarely left the Langwith half. Any promising Langwith attack was almost always snuffed out by an error or a Halifax interception before it could become dangerous, one had to feel sorry for the Halifax keeper who must have been freezing in the first half through lack of activity.
Halifax remained dominant throughout the half and it was only some excellent saves from keeper Kris “The Cat” Cheshire as well as some agonising misses that kept the score at 1-0. Tom Day was a constant danger for Halifax throughout the match putting in some excellent runs and shots which were unlucky not to go in. Indeed despite their utter dominance in possession Halifax must have been a little frustrated not to have increased their advantage further by half time.
The second half however began with the match being a far more open affair. Langwith had a great deal more of the possession and did not present something of a threat to the Halifax goal, although they never did look like troubling the underworked Halifax keeper too much.
However any illusions there may have been of a competitive match were quickly shattered early in the second half when Connor Meckin skilfully slotted the ball round the keeper onto the post, before it dribbled over the line to give Halifax a 2-0 lead.
After this Langwith probably gained more of a foothold in the match without seriously threatening scoring, but a lot of credit must be given to them for improving throughout the match with a seriously understrength side. Credit must also be given to keeper Cheshire for limiting the damage with another imposing performance in goal. However Halifax by this stage were in pretty much cruise control and were able to see out a pretty routine 2-0 win.
Halifax Captain Matt Darling was delighted by his squad’s performance telling vision “it really should have been more than two. We had chances, especially in the second half when we were able to move the ball wide a bit more. I’m happy with the three points though, we have to keep on winning games now”.
Stand in Langwith captain Marcus Campbell commented “That was maybe the best we’ve played all season. We had a lot of first team players missing today but the players who came in did a fantastic job. I’m pretty happy with the result, even if it was a defeat”.
Vision MOTM: Connor Meckin