FC Halifax Town earned a credible 0-0 away at League two opponents Morecambe fc in the First Round of the FA Cup.
Prior to kick there was a rendition of the Last Post prior to a minute’s silence to commemorate the fallen-on Remembrance Weekend.
Town came into the game following a disappointing defeat to relegation strugglers Havant & Waterlooville, but this time out saw the Shaymen put in a much-improved performance to force Morecambe to a replay.
With early chances for both teams saw Morecambe have a shot from distance that never troubled Sam Johnson in goal with Town proving successful out wide. Jacob Hanson and Sanmi Odelusi were combining well down the right-hand side with Joe Skarz and Ryan Sellers on the left.
Morecambe seemed to struggle to break through the back line of the Halifax defence and had to resort to long shots which saw Johnson called to action on several occasions, having to tip the ball over the bar or round the post.
The first yellow card of the game fell for Halifax left-back Skarz after a poor challenge as Morecambe looked to break after some Town pressure. The resulting free kick saw a good cross met in the middle, but the header had no power and Johnson could collect.
Nathan Clarke had to make several changes of shirt during the game, as a cut just above his eye forced him off on several occasions. This meant Town played almost 10 minutes without the full 11 players on the pitch.
With scores level at half time, both teams were looking for goals early into the second half and some early pressure from both sides could’ve broken the deadlock as Town won a corner and a couple of free kicks. Morecambe once again were restricted to purely long shots with Shaymen captain Matty Brown having to clear one off the line.
Another yellow card for a Town player came on the 55th minute, this time for winger Odelusi after a poor challenge saw him miss the ball completely and only catch the man.
Moving into the 70th minute and it seemed like Morecambe would be the most likely to snatch a winner as they held Town in their area as they put in several dangerous crosses, with Halifax coming away unscathed.
In the first minute of added time Town believed they had a winner when Jonathan Edwards met Sellers’ cross and found the top corner however the linesman flagged for offside.
Town will now have to do it all again after it finished goalless with the replay scheduled for Tuesday the 20th November at the Shay.
My Man of the match: Cameron King
Morecambe: 21 Mark Halstead, 2 Zak Mills, 3 Luke Conlan, 5 Steve Old, 9 Vadaine Oliver, 15 Aaron Wildig, 16 Sam Lavelle, 17 Liam Mandeville (6 Andrew Tutte 55), 18 Rhys Oates (11 Kevin Ellison 55), 27 Jordan Cranston (12 Jason Oswell 80), 28 A-Jay Leith-Smith
Subs: 13 Dawid Szczepaniak, 4 Alex Kenyon, 14 Josef Yarney, 19 Carlos Mendes-Gomes
FC Halifax Town: 1 Sam Johnson, 3 Ryan Sellers, 4 Nathan Clarke, 5 Matty Brown (c), 6 Josh Staunton, 8 Cameron King, 9 Dayle Southwell (10 JOnathan Edwards 82),11 Sanmi Odeusi (19 Jordan Preston 68), 31 Niall Maher, 39 Joe Skarz, 40 Jacob Hanson
Subs: 21 Shaun Rowley, 22 Mekhi McLeod
Goals: None
Yellow Cards: Skarz 25, Odelusi 56, Maher 73
Red Cards: None
Attendance: 1736 (531 away)
Morecambe 0 FC Halifax Town 0
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