FC Halifax Town claimed a late point on the road to Eastleigh thanks to Ryan Galvin’s first goal for the club.
The Shaymen made four changes for their Saturday evening clash away to Eastleigh. Up front, Luca Thomas and Zak Emmerson partnered each other for the first time in nearly a month, whilst Angelo Cappello and Jack Jenkins were also reintroduced to the side.
It was a first half with very little action at either end of the pitch; however, on the half-hour mark, Eastleigh were awarded a penalty and had the chance to go a goal up from 12 yards. In an attempt to clear the ball out of his area, Jenkins made contact with Jake Taylor. Taylor then stepped up to take the penalty, but Shrewsbury loanee Toby Savin made a great stop down to his left to keep the scores level.
The penalty seemed to liven the game up; 2 minutes after the missed spot kick, Nathan Tshikuna turned his man before letting fly from 25 yards to see his effort crash off the crossbar.
Just before the half-time whistle, Florent Hoti was forced off through injury; Sean Tarima was the man to replace him for his second appearance in a Town shirt.
The first sight of a goal in the second period fell to the Spireites as Christopher Maguire spurned a golden opportunity. Richard Brindley clipped the ball into the box, which Tyrese Shade nodded on to Maguire. The 36-year-old smashed the ball towards goal, but it fell wide of the post.
Just 2 minutes later, Maguire had the chance to put things right as the home side were awarded a second penalty of the game. Similarly to the first, the Eastleigh player got to the ball first and then went down after feeling contact; this time Tarima was the man penalised. Despite diving the right way again, this time the ball beat Toby Savin. This was Maguire’s 7th goal of the campaign and his first since October.
The goal prompted Chris Millington into a double change which saw the introduction of Jamie Cooke and Dubem Eze. Eastleigh also brought the experienced Lee Hodson onto the pitch.
The game was in danger of falling into a lull; however, the substitution of Daniel Nkrumah was hoped to liven up the Shaymen midfield.
Despite the attacking changes, Halifax still offered very little going forward; Ryan Galvin tried to break free through the heart of the pitch, but he was chopped down by goalscorer Maguire, who as a result picked up a yellow card.
With one minute of normal time left to play, Halifax were awarded a corner. Jenkins swung the ball in towards the back post, where Galvin was waiting unmarked to power home with his head.
This was Town’s first goal in 5 games, and there was no time for celebrations as the Shaymen looked to grab the winner in the 5 minutes of added time.
In the final seconds of the match, Zak Emmerson found himself one-on-one with Noa Boutin; the defender slipped as Emmerson knocked the ball round him, and the goal then opened up for the youngster, but his whipped effort fell agonisingly wide of the far post. This was the final passage of play in what was a game of very few chances.
Match Stats
Eastleigh
1 Joe McDonnell, 2 Richard Brindley (14 Lee Hodson 66), 5 Luiz Fernandez, 6 Ludwig Francillette, 7 Chris Maguire, 8 Jake Taylor © (18 Angel Wariuh 90), 10 Tyrese Shade, 19 Corey Panter, 21 Noa Boutin, 22 Ben Close, 33 Nathan Tshikuna
Sub: 13 Tommy Scott, 9 Paul McCallum, 23 Jai Semenyo, 26 Joe Ryan, 30 Connor Underhill
FC Halifax Town
31 Toby Savin, 16 Josh Emmanuel, 5 Adam Senior, 27 Adam Adetoro (8 Daniel Nkrumah 69, 3 Ryan Galvin, 23 Tom Pugh (10 Jamie Cooke 62), 20 Jack Jenkins, 18 Florent Hoti (29 Sean Tarima 44), 9 Luca Thomas (22 Dubem Eze 62), 11 Angelo Cappello, 21 Zak Emmerson
Subs: 12 Nathaniel Ford, 14 Harvey Sutcliffe, 32 Charlie Hayes-Green
Referee: Greg Rollason
Goals: Maguire 60 (pen), Galvin 89
Yellow Cards: Maguire 86
Red Cards: None
Attendance: 2161 (124 away)
Eastleigh 1 FC Halifax Town 1
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