FC Halifax Town’s first ever visit to The Walks, home of King’s Lynn FC, ended in a one all draw with the hosts being pegged back in the 2nd period by Lewis Mansell on his debut. The fixture beat the big freeze to go ahead but the fog made it a difficult afternoon for the players and press alike.
Town boss Pete Wild handed debuts to loan signings Jean Leroy-Belehouan and Mansell who joined from Sheffield United and Accrington Stanley respectively during the week. And, there were a couple of familiar names in the King’s Lynn starting eleven in former Town players Dayle Southwell and Ross Barrows.
The Shaymen started brightly forcing an early corner after Jeff King’s shot was blocked. They continued to take the game to their hosts with King and Jack Earing linking well on the right but the cross was cleared. King’s Lynn replied with Southwell winning a corner which was cleared.
Luke Summerfield’s 25 yard shot cleared the bar and King’s cross was too close to the keeper with Town struggling to find their men in the final third of the pitch. A Martin Woods shot caused a problem for Archie Mair in the King’s Lynn goal as he narrowly missed the target. Billy Chadwick turned well 20 yards from goal and his shot was blocked for a corner.
Debutant Alex Kiwomya gave the hosts the lead in the 38th minute. Southwell received the ball on the right side of the penalty area & advanced to the bye-line and his ball back was met by Kiwomya to score from 15 yards out.
Jeff King received a yellow card on 45 minutes for a foul and the half ended with The Linnets enjoying their single goal advantage. Although Town enjoyed plenty of possession they were unable to bring the Strikers into the game enough.
King’s Lynn began brightly after the interval. Following a corner, Michael Gash failed to hit the target when well-placed but Town were soon on level terms. A corner on the left was over-hit but the ball was returned into the area and Mansell was on hand at the back post to head The Shaymen level.
In the space of a couple of minutes Simon Power twice threatened Sam Johnson’s goal, firstly forcing the keeper into a save and secondly failing to hit the target from the edge of the penalty area. Jack Earing replied with a shot before a series of substitutions and it was one of these, Adam Marriott, who twice thought he had scored only to be denied by an Assistant’s flag. A rapid counterattack saw Earing find his team mate but the shot evaded the goal and the match ended with a point to each side following a 1-1 draw.
Town jump to 5th in the table and are back in action on Tuesday night with the visit of 2nd placed Hartlepool United to the Shay, 7pm kick-off.
Match Stats:
King’s Lynn Town:
21 Archie Mair, 3 Alex Brown, 4 Kyle Callan-McFadden, 5 Chris Smith, 8 Jordan Richards, 9 Michael Gash, 14 Ryan Jarvis, 20 Dayle Southwell (10 Adam Marriott 69), 22 Ross Barrows, 23 Alex Kiwomya (24 Sonny Carey 69) 25 Simon Power (19 Kairo Mitchell 78)
Subs: 6 Rory McAuley, 7 Michael Clunan
FC Halifax Town:
1 Sam Johnson, 2 Jeff King, 6 Tom Bradbury, 10 Jack Earing, 11 Danny Williams, 19 Luke Summerfield, 26 Martin Woods (8 Kieran Green 46), 31 Niall Maher 34 Lewis Mansell (7 Jamie Allen 75), 35 Jean Leroy-Belehouan (3 Jack Senior 65), 36 Billy Chadwick
Subs: 12 Harrison Davison-Hale, 8 Neil Danns
Referee: Garreth Rhodes
Goals: Kiwomya 38, Mansell 51
Yellow Cards: King 45, Southwell 68
Red Cards:
Attendance: Behind Closed Doors
King’s Lynn Town 1 FC Halifax Town 1
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