FC Halifax Town ended their winless run with a stern defensive display against lowly Dover Athletic, eventually winning 1-0.
The away side, who occupy 24th place in The National League and haven’t won away from home so far this season, but Andy Hessenthaler’s side started the slightly brighter of the two sides. Kevin Lokko headed Bobby-Joe Taylor’s cross just over the Sam Johnson’s crossbar in the opening exchanges.
Despite this The Shaymen took the lead. Matty Kosylo’s powerful deflected strike gave The Shaymen the lead in the 39th minute after a good period of passing play.
That goal clearly gave Town a boost of confidence as this was shortly followed by Dayle Southwell hitting a ferocious close-range strike against the crossbar just before the interval.
Jamie Fullarton’s side looked sought to pick up where they had left off in the first. Kosylo nearly got his brace however his shot drifted just inches wide of the left-hand side post. Dayle Southwell helped make the move showing great strength with a determined run on the far side.
However, it was by no means a one sided affair. Throughout the second half the visitors came close on numerous occasions, with arguably the best chance falling to Stuart Lewis who blazed a punched ball by Johnson over the bar. Moments after that Dover’s Jamie Allen headed Joshua Debayo’s cross just wide.
A resilient Town side aided by the aerial prowess of Nathan Clarke and Matty Brown throughout saw off the Dover threats to secure the valuable three points.
1 Sam Johnson, 4 Nathan Clarke, 5 Matty Brown ©, 6Josh Staunton, 7 Matty Kosylo, 8 Cameron King (22 Mekhi McLeod), 9 Dayle Southwell (10 Jonathan Edwards), 11 Sanmi Odelusi(19 Jordan Preston 60th), 31 Niall Maher, 39 Joe Skarz, 40 Jacob Hanson 7
Subs: 21 Shaun Rowley, 3 Ryan Sellers,
1 Mitch Walker, 2 Josh Passley, 5 Kevin Lokko, 8 Mitch
Brundle ©, 10 Jamie Allen, 12 Inih Effiong, 23 Bedsente Gomis (18 Nortei Nortey), 27 Stuart Lewis, 28 Josh Debayo, 29 Bobby-Joe Taylor, 30 Jai Reason (4 Moussa Diarra)
Subs: 15 Manny Adebowale, 31 Lee Worgan, 32 Ryan Huckle
Goals: Kosylo
Yellow Cards: Staunton (33) Odelusi (37)
Red Cards: None
Attendance: 1356
FC Halifax Town 1 Dover Athletic 0
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