FC Halifax Town were dumped out of a second cup competition in two days as the Shaymen succumbed to a 3-1 away defeat at the hands of Silsden AFC in the West Riding County Cup.
Goals from William Storrie, Kyle Hancock and Daniel Riley meant that Ousman Cham’s first half opener was merely a consolation after Town had already been knocked out of the FA Trophy just 24 hours earlier.
Danny Hone was back on the pitch for the first time since returning from injury, taking the captain’s role for a rather inexperienced Town side. His vocal presence and knowledge of first team football helped the Shaymen back four to organise themselves throughout the first half.
The game got off to a slow start as both teams looked to find their feet in the chilly, November air. However, the young Shaymen soon started to create the chances through Elliot Harrison before Ousman Cham broke the deadlock inside the first quarter of an hour.
The left midfielder troubled the Silsden defence before unleashing the shot. ‘Keeper Callum Jakovlevs managed to get a hand behind it but was not strong enough to deny Town the opening goal.
Town started to look more comfortable following the goal and managed to play some nice passes around the middle. Although Silsden were not out of it and soon started to trouble Town’s back-line leaded by Hone.
William Storrie found himself with some space around the edge of the Town box and unleashed a curling effort, only for it to whistle over the bar.
The Shaymen quickly re-grouped as Isaac Baldwin raced up the other end to try his luck, although the effort flashed just wide of the far post.
As half time approached, the game started to filter out, but not before Silsden delivered their best chance of the opening 45 minutes. Kyle Hancock produced an excellent shot to force Kyle Trenerry in the Halifax goal to parry, it only went as far as Storrie but his shot flew over the bar from two yards out. The Town blushes were spared.
Hone’s substitution at half-time had a drastic effect on the Town defence, and it soon showed as Storrie bagged himself a well-deserved goal to give Silsden the equaliser. He cut inside from the left to unleash the shot from his right foot, curling it into the bottom right corner.
The Shaymen now struggled to cope with Silsden’s pressure and, after earning a free kick outside the area, the home side took the lead. Hancock stepped up to take and he did so effortlessly, firing the shot past Kyle Trenerry who could only watch on.
The home side then picked up the pace even more as Halifax continued to look under threat. Just two minutes later a superb ball from the left found Daniel Riley at the back post and the forward could not miss.
As Silsden were now all but guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals, the pace of the game slowed dramatically as the home side began to run down the clock.
After a lacklustre final ten minutes, their efforts were met by the final whistle. Much to the relief of the Shaymen faithful who will be glad to have kept the score down to 3-1.
Lineups:
Silsden AFC:1. Callum Jakovlevs,2. Matthew Moses, 3. Robert Foulds, 4. Josh Kaine, 5. Sam Jacomb, 6. Benjamin Cox, 7. William Storrie, 8. Joshua Eastwood, 9. Nicholas McNally, 10. Kyle Hancock, 11. Daniel Riley
Subs:12. Ryan Narey, 13/17. Daniel Thorpe, 14. Nathan Storton, 15. Ross Wilson, 16. Edward Busfield
FC Halifax Town:1. Kyle Trenerry, 2. Ross Barrows, 3. Isaac Baldwin, 4. Jake Thompson, 5. Daniel Hone, 6. Reece Kendall, 7. Shiraz Khan, 8. Liam Healey, 9. Elliott Harrison, 10. Marko Basic, 11. Ousman Cham
Subs:13/17. Kelan Swales, 14. Brad Swain, 15. James Sunderland, 16. Josh Debenham
Read more posts by Kelly Gilchrist
;
