By Jon Cook
A CLOSE affair between two good sides was settled only by a debatable Mark Lund penalty.
Halifax and Vanbrugh both played good, possession football, with Halifax demonstrating why they have been the team to beat recently and Vanbrugh showing signs of real encouragement for the future.
However, a lack of attacking edge from both teams, coupled with confident goalkeeping displays, meant the match nearly ended goalless.
It was Vanbrugh who started the better, demonstrating their strength in the middle of the park. However, without any real cutting edge up front they struggled to mould any real chances, with needless offsides putting paid to neat midfield work.
Refreshed after the restart, Halifax started to press Vanbrugh hard. Goalkeeper Paul Taylor proved equal to any Halifax efforts though, and pulled off an athletic save from a long range drive in the 50th minute. This allowed his attackers to nearly steal the game with some nice counter-attacking football, leading to an effort hitting the Halifax bar. It appeared it would only be a matter of time before Vanbrugh took the lead.
It was to be Halifax’s day though. Going into the final 10 minutes, Conor Brennan was scythed down, seemingly outside the box. The referee saw it differently however, and pointed controversially to the spot. Creditably the Vanbrugh’s players’ dissent was minimal, and Halifax captain Mark Lund stepped up confidently to slot the penalty into the bottom left hand corner to give his side the win.
Halifax captain Mark Lund commented after the game, “We were made to work hard today, but once again our class showed through, the conditions today restricted our usual free flowing football, but we showed the heart of champions.”
Yes, it might have been a debatable penalty, but if people are going to get annoyed about these decisions then they have to start supporting ref soc. You can’t blame someone who came along to watch the match for stepping up to referee and making the brave decisions.