His header from Jordan Sinnott’s corner was to be the only goal of the game despite displaying what can be described as an onslaught of Shaymen attacks in the second half.
A glorious, sunny day in Halifax oversaw a fitting minute of applause for lifelong Town fan Dave Neatby, who sadly passed away earlier this week. Lovely scenes amongst a crowd that was desperate for a performance as bright as the weather itself.
However, the first half saw very little excitement from both sides despite the glorious conditions. David Lynch had the best chance of the opening ten minutes as his sliding shot sailed over Fabian Spiess’ crossbar.
Moments later and it was the home side who had a golden opportunity to take the first goal. Scott Garner found himself in space inside the box as his low shot was blocked on the line by Jordan Richards. It was not quite as easy as his miss against Brackley, but the centre-back may still feel that he deserves a goal from his recent efforts.
As for the away side, it was a different story as they struggled to mount any form of attack against a resilient Shaymen back line. The home side managed to exploit the large gaps appearing in midfield with some neat possession play, although struggled to break into the final third.
The final chance of the half was one of the best. Liam King found himself one-on-one with Spiess following Denton’s flicked header on. However, after not being able to get control of the ball, Richard Peniket picked up the loose ball out wide, but his shot flashed behind for a goal kick.
The second half needed a step up in pace if there was to be any team taking the three points. Thankfully, that played in favour of the Shaymen.
Just five minutes in saw the first chance of the half as King saw his shot blocked by Denton, a sign of what was to be a Halifax onslaught.
The Shaymen stepped it up a gear forcing corner after corner. It seemed as if the home side would never find a way through after Peniket was just inches away from tapping in a 1-0 lead following David Lynch’s impressive move and cross.
This sparked an exciting few moments as Charles then saw one of his efforts blocked before Kevin Roberts was eventually dispossessed, much to the dismay of the home crowd.
Finally though, there was a breakthrough. One of the numerous corners managed to provide a goal as Denton was the man leaping above the rest to meet Sinnott’s ball in. The resulting header rippled the back of the net, sending the MBi Shay Stadium into rapturous applause. A well-deserved lead for Town.
Despite going a goal down, the Reds were not down and out just yet. Wesley Atkinson applied the pressure with an impressive ball across the face of goal. Luckily for the home fans, there was no red shirt in site to meet it.
Moments later and the home side had two chances to wrap up the game, the first coming as Peniket pulled a short cross back to find no one there in support.
The second was the most promising after Josh MacDonald, back on the pitch after a lengthy spell on the side-lines through injury, did well to find King in the box, although the shot was well saved by Spiess.
As the final whistle drew ever closer, the game become more scrappy as Alfreton looked to take away a point. Substitute Liam Hearn was sent through by Adam Priestley, although he struggled to get a decent shot away as he was forced out wide.
From then on Town were the most comfortable as they saw out what was definitely a deserved fourth victory in five games, keeping them in play-off contention.
Man of the Match: David Lynch
FC Halifax Town: 1 Sam Johnson, 2 Kevin Roberts ©, 3 Josh Wilde, 4 Dave Lynch, 5 Scott Garner, 6 Nathan Hotte, 7 Liam King, 8 Jordan Sinnott, 9 Tom Denton (Moyo 80′), 10 Dion Charles (MacDonald 68′), 11 Richard Peniket
Subs Not Used: 12 Steven Drench, 14 Cliff Moyo, 15 Danny Hone 16 Adam Morgan
Alfreton Town: 1 Fabian Spiess, 2 Jordan Richards, 3 Andrew Monkhouse, 4 Niall Heaton, 5 Todd Jordan, 6 Paul Marshall, 7 Mark Shelton (Evans 80′, 8 Wesley Atkinson, 9 Samuel Smith (Hearn 68′)10 Craig Westcarr (Priestley 68′), 11 Callum McFadzean
Subs Not Used: 14 Jordan Wright
Goals: Denton 61′
Yellow Cards: McFadzean 44′, Garner 74′
Red Cards: None
Attendance: 1,634 (36)
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