FC Halifax Town were held to a 0-0 draw by promotion hopefuls Salford City.
Salford struggled to create many chances of quality against a dominant Halifax side. Town have a right to feel disappointed after creating far more goal scoring opportunities and keeping Salford under pressure for most of the game.
The first real chance fell to Cameron King who made a great run into the box, beating three men before playing a one two with Matty Kosylo. Salford were able to just about clear for a corner before a shot was taken. Skarz took and found Maher, but Salford cleared away. Duckworth put it back in the box and Halifax got a shot away, but it was straight at Chris Neal.
Just before half time, Right-back Michael Duckworth thought he had broken the deadlock. An incredible run that saw him beat Tom Walker with a ‘Ronaldo Chop’. Duckworth fired a shot towards goal which appeared to be destined for the bottom corner. However, a fine save from Neal forced a corner to keep the scores level.
The second half started in a very similar light as Salford struggled to create chances. Salford conceded three corners in two minutes, but Halifax failed to make the chances pay as the scores stayed level.
Just past the hour mark and Halifax believed they had won a penalty. Referee James Oldham instead gave a free kick half a yard outside the box as the Shaymen fans protested. James Berrett stepped up, but Nathan Pond did well to head behind for a corner. The corner came to nothing and once again Salford survived.
Salford created a rare chance as substitute Rory Gaffney found a burst of pace. He ran into the box before sending a low cross across the box. No one was there to meet it and Halifax won the goal kick.
The first yellow card of the game was shown to Niall Maher after a poor challenge on the halfway line. The second card was shown only a few minutes later as Joe Muscatt committed a cynical foul on the far side.
The final chance of the game fell to The Shaymen as a poor pass from Pond to Piergianni gifted Town a corner. Tomlinson stepped up to take and found Brown at the back post, but his header was just over the bar and onto the roof of the net.
Despite a relatively strong end to the game, Salford failed to break the Halifax defence who will be confident after keeping a clean sheet against one of the stronger sides in the league.
Town now sit in 16th place, level on points with Barnet. Salford sit 2nd just three points off league leaders Leyton Orient.
The Shaymen have a week off after the game against Maidstone was postponed due to their involvement in the FA Trophy. This means Town travel to Chesterfield on the 9th of February with Chesterfield trying to climb out of the relegation zone.
My man of the match: Cameron King
FC Halifax Town: 1 Sam Johnson, 2 Michael Duckworth, 4 Nathan Clarke, 5 Matty Brown ©, 7 Matty Kosylo, 8 Cameron King (14 Ben Tomlinson 85), 9 Dayle Southwell (19 Jordan Preston 64), 18 James Berrett, 31 Niall Maher, 37 Scott Quigley (10 Jonathan Edwards 64), 39 Joe Skarz
Subs: 21 Shaun Rowley, 25 James Ferry
Salford City: 1 Christopher Neal, 2 Scott Wiseman, 3 Ibou Touray, 6 Carl Piergianni, 7 Matthew Green (21 Emmanel Dieseruvwe 72), 9 Adam Rooney (©), 10 Danny Lloyd-McGoldrick (30 Rory Gaffney 52) 11 Tom Walker, 16 Joseph Muscatt, 18 Daniel Whitehead, 23 Nathan Pond
Subs: 12 Maxime Crocombe, 26 James Jones, 21 Devante Rodney
Goals: None
Yellow Cards: Maher 72
Red Cards: None
Attendance: 2115 (423 away fans)
FC Halifax Town 0 Salford City 0
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