An early strike from Jake Mundy and a Matt Mawdesley penalty gave Halifax 1sts a vital win over Goodricke 1sts as the pre-tournament favourites battled back from their shock defeat to James 2nds.
Beadle’s men knew that victory here was imperative if they are to qualify for the cup, and this translated into their strong start.
The first chance of the game fell to Jake Mundy. The ‘Fax striker did well to bring the ball down and get his shot away on the turn but the effort flashed just wide of Ed Foster’s upright.
Just a few minutes later however, the same player made no mistake with a far easier opportunity to make it 1-0. The impressive Tom Day showed superb technique in firing a half-volley from outside the area towards the bottom corner and Foster could only parry the effort wide of his goal. Mundy latched onto the rebound and tapped in simply to give Halifax the lead.
The leaders almost forged another chance when Pilides put a decent ball in from the right but Alex Reid couldn’t quite bring it under his spell when he had space to work with.
Goodricke deserve much credit for the way they battled back into the game after the strong Halifax start. The likes of Hammer and Parker scrapped in midfield and Astbury was imperious at the back, keeping ‘Fax striker Hamish Denham unusually quiet.
They had an excellent chance to level the game courtesy of a Sam Lewis cross which just evaded the onrushing Mann who would have been free to score at the far post.
They came close again not long after. Dave Bullock swung a cross into the area from deep and it looked as if Mann had fouled Jonny Sim when he challenged the ‘Fax goalkeeper and caused him to fumble. The referee waved play on however and Sam Lewis poked the loose ball agonisingly wide of the post.
Halifax ended the half on top and almost doubled their lead in spectacular fashion, only to be denied by a superb save from Foster. Tom Day hit a curling, dipping effort from long range but the strike was matched by a fantastic acrobatic stop from Foster, tipping the ball over the bar.
Goodricke started the second half strongly and were left to rue another missed opportunity just minutes in. Substitute Jon Sharpe was clean through on goal but seemed to think he was offside as he hesitated in his approach to goal before firing tamely straight at Sim when he really should have scored.
Halifax responded with a period of pressure and they won themselves a penalty when Sam Astbury made his only mistake of an otherwise faultless performance, sliding in to stop a through ball aimed at Fraser Moyle inside the D.
Matt Mawdesley stepped up and made no mistake, finishing in the bottom left corner to make it 2-0.
The goal relaxed Halifax and deflated a Goodricke side who had looked like possibly getting back into the game. The men in white saw out a comfortable and quiet last ten minutes to move onto six points in the group.
“It was a great win,” said injured Halifax captain Jack Beadle, “I thought we played really well as a team, we battled hard and we’re starting to look confident and we’re looking forward to the rest of the tournament.”