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Photos: Oliver Todd
A brace from Hamish Denham, a goal from Fraser Moyle and a penalty from stand-in captain Gio Pilides saw last year’s College Cup champions recover to record, in the end, an easy victory over the side who stunned them 2-1 last term; all this after Langwith captain Andy Hutt had given his side the lead early on in the game.
Despite being played on undoubtedly the worst of the four college pitches and that the first ten minutes was played with all the intensity of an end-of-season Stoke versus Fulham game, the match developed into a pretty decent spectacle. Both sides tried to keep the ball on the floor which was no mean feat thanks to the horrendous pitch condition.
Both teams struggled to gain a stranglehold over the other- especially as Halifax were fielding an almost completely changed line-up from last term. Denham applied pressure to Kris Cheshire in the Langwith goal following a Dave Lewis cross, whilst Hutt saw his long-range effort sail over the bar.
The game’s tempo was soon to quicken however as Langwith took the lead. A tricky run from the impressive Bruce Starkey started the move which saw Danny Mullen pick up the ball and shake off his marker on the left wing. His tame cross was not dealt with by the Halifax defence and the ball trickled to skipper Hutt on the edge of the box, who toe-poked the ball from 20 yards out past the despairing dive of ‘Fax keeper Dean Hanson.
This served to increase the urgency of the Halifax team. They began to gain a stronger hold on possession, stringing a few passes together. Their pressure eventually told ten minutes before half time when Moyle was brought down by Sam Morley in the box. Gio Pilides, captain for the day in the absence of Jack Beadle, stepped up to convert the penalty, despite Cheshire getting a hand to the ball.
The rest of the half passed without any real incident with Matt Seed in particular looking assured in the Halifax defence- other than Hamish Denham seeing his 25-yard half volley tipped onto the post by Cheshire.
Whilst in the first half Langwith matched Halifax in all areas with Starkey and Hutt in particular causing the ‘Fax defence problems, the second very much belonged to the men in white. Losing Starkey to injury at half time hit Langwith’s attacking ambitions hard and suddenly Solomon Sango, Moyle and Pilides began to find space in the final third.
Moyle saw his half-volley just go over the bar after good interplay between Pilides and Sango- before the tricky winger’s blocked shot was headed wide by Denham.
This signalled ‘Fax’s intent and their dominance soon told as they took the lead. Good play from Sango resulted in a low cross which Denham converted from close range.
Langwith then seemed to recover some composure in the middle of the park. Good battling from Hutt put Mullen through only to be denied by an excellent Lewis tackle.
The men in yellow were soon to be knocked back down again however. A fantastic ball from Jake Mundy cleared the Langwith defence, freeing Fraser Moyle on the left who raced clear of his marker to clip the ball past the helpless Cheshire and the ball just bobbled over the line- despite James MacDonald’s desperate attempts to clear it off the line.
This goal seemed to completely knock the stuffing out of the Langwith side and their fate was sealed with a fourth Halifax goal after Moyle headed forward for Denham who finished well, half-volleying the ball past Cheshire.
The rest of the game saw comfortable possession for Halifax who at times played some very tidy football, with Langwith restricted to long range shots from Hutt and Holbrook, although ‘Fax ‘keeper Hanson did do well to stop MacDonald in the penalty area.
In the end, it was a dominant performance from Halifax- in particular the likes of Kershaw, Pilides and Seed helped to quell Langwith’s attacking intentions, and to provide the springboard for almost incessant Halifax pressure in the second half.
Langwith will undoubtedly rue some suspect defending and, as with their previous outing against Alcuin, should be commended for their first half performance. Halifax however, were worthy and deserving winners on the day.
Langwith captain Andy Hutt remained relatively upbeat after the defeat, stating how he was pleased with their “decent first half-performance” but that unfortunately some sloppy defending, and being “unable to keep [their] battling spirit” up for the entire ninety minutes saw the game slip away from them.
Gio Pilides was pleased with Halifax’s performance, claiming it was “the best football we’ve played for a long time”, before turning his attentions to the College Cup, claiming Halifax could well be “the dark horses” for this year’s tournament.
Vision MOTM: Phil Kershaw- a somewhat understated player but his tough tackling and dogged persistence were vital for his side’s dominance in the second half.