A 20 yard strike from Ed Henry secured Halifax a hard-earned 1-0 victory over Goodricke 1sts this afternoon, and all but secured their place in the cup semi-finals at the expense of Alcuin 1sts.
Last week Halifax were deducted two points for failing to provide a referee, meaning that they had to win today to maintain their position ahead of Alcuin in Group C. Goodricke meanwhile sat four points clear at the top of the group with a 100% record, and despite the loss today still look set to finish on top of Group C.
In what was a close encounter, with few clear chances, Henry’s strike from the left hand side of the D with twenty minutes remaining was all that split the two sides. Connor McCoy’s long throw beat everyone, and when the ball broke to Henry he took a touch, before drilling the ball expertly into the bottom corner of the net, giving John Thompson no chance.
Before that Halifax should have taken the lead in the seventh minute, when Connor Meckin spurned an excellent chance when he received the ball from McCoy. From eight yards out however, the unmarked forward could only scuff his shot horribly wide, much to the dismay of the Halifax following.
Indeed in the first half there were few real openings, with both sides largely restricted to long range shots. Mizan Ally blasted over from twenty yards for Goodricke after some neat play between Joe Mann and Dalton Harris down the left, whilst Jonathan Gillbanks nodded a corner over the bar.
When Goodricke did find the target, Halifax ‘keeper Mitch Barwick was up to the test, gathering a Harris shot before palming away a Mann effort, after a rare slip in the backline.
At the other end Dave Lewis had a hopeful long range shot easily gathered, whilst Meckin blazed another chance over, but all in all it was a scrappy half of football, which Goodricke narrowly edged.
A draw was of no real value to Halifax, and in the second half they increased the intensity, as both teams went in search of the opening goal. Elliot Ragan nodded a Jonny McGuinness cross into the grateful arms of Thompson soon after the break, whilst Harris wasted a freekick in a dangerous position, firing into the bottom of the three man Halifax wall.
But on 38 minutes Halifax broke the deadlock, Henry providing a moment of class as his sweetly struck effort rippled the back of the net. With over twenty minutes left though there was still a lot of work for Halifax to do, and Goodricke tried to respond immediately, as Gillbanks fired narrowly wide from 20 yards.
Henry continued to provide impetus in midfield for Halifax, along with Lewis and Henry Collins, and with 15 minutes remaining he had Thompson scrambling with a deflected shot from the edge of the area. Goodricke centre halves Luke Parker and Stu Dunk were dealing with most of the danger calmly, but at the other end their teammates were unable to unlock a resilient Halifax backline, in which Hamid Areezo and Sean Kearney excelled.
Barwick dealt well with a floated freekick from the lively Chris Osborne, before Dunk wasted what was arguably Goodricke’s best chance, blazing over from eight yards when under pressure. Overall though Barwick was rarely tested in the Halifax net, as a sublime team effort allowed the men in white to absorb the Goodricke pressure.
After further shots from Harris and Osborne, Goodricke actually came closest to finding an equaliser from a Dunk freekick from within his own half. The centre half launched the ball forward, and in the chaos of bodies, the ball struck a Halifax defender only yards from the line and deflected wide, rather than into the back of the net.
After his side’s excellent 1-0 win Halifax captain McGuinness told Vision: “I’m delighted with the win. After our points deduction we knew we had to put in a performance today, and all the boys battled brilliantly to secure the three points.”
Joe Mann meanwhile was still upbeat about his side’s prospects despite their first defeat of the campaign, remarking: “We weren’t at our best today, but we still should top the group. Vanbrugh 1sts lost to Halifax 2nds last year in the group stages, so this doesn’t mean that we can’t go on and do well.”
Goodricke play Wentworth 3rds in their last match, knowing that victory will see them top the group, whilst Halifax will also qualify if they beat Vanbrugh 3rds, regardless of Alcuin 1sts results in their final two matches.
Vision MOTM: Hamid Areezo