FC Halifax Town booked their place in the 5th round of the FA Trophy with a 4-0 win over Anstey Nomads
The Nomads got the game underway at The Shay, looking to assert themselves early, but Will Smith and Shaun Hobson kept them at bay.
The Shaymen went close to taking an early lead from the first corner of the match, which found its way to Will Harris. He tried to slot the ball home, but his effort was blocked by the Nomads’ defence.
Anstey then threatened after a barrage of long balls, with one finally breaking through the Shaymen back line. The ball fell to forward Oscar Tonge, but his shot was dragged wide for a goal kick.
After ten minutes, Halifax looked momentarily shaky when Will Smith misplaced a pass into the Anstey attack, though the Shaymen recovered well to clear their lines.
The first booking of the game went to Anstey’s Lewis Gibbens following a late challenge on Owen Bray. From the resulting free kick, Town countered quickly, with the ball again finding Harris inside the box, but his effort was comfortably caught by Nomads goalkeeper Anthony Nunez.
Halifax worked hard to find a way into the game during the first half, attacking whenever possible, but Anstey’s defensive structure made it difficult to break the deadlock.
The Shaymen then launched an explosive counter-attack after struggling to play out from the back. Owen Bray received a long ball on the right and laid it off to AJ Warburton, who sprinted towards the Anstey box and fired a shot straight at the keeper.
The deadlock almost ended when another long ball found Bray, who danced past several defenders before unleashing a long-range effort. Nunez managed to get a strong hand to the shot, parrying it onto the post.
Town continued to build play well but were unable to find the final pass, and the referee blew for half-time with the score level at 0–0.
Halifax began the second half brightly and nearly took the lead early on when Angello Cappello glided past the Anstey defence down the left and delivered a ball into the box, though no one was there to finish.
Another chance followed after some attractive build-up between Jay Turner-Cooke and Cody Johnson. Turner-Cooke carried the ball to the edge of the area and attempted to float it into the top corner, but his effort drifted wide.
Town threatened again when Latty-Fairweather received a long ball and drove toward goal, with Harris in support. He attempted to square the ball inside the box, but Nunez was quick off his line to intercept.
The breakthrough finally arrived in the 54th minute. Cappello made a daring run into the box and, with Harris alongside him, delivered a perfectly weighted pass for the forward to tap home. It was Harris’ 14th goal in all competitions and made him Halifax’s top scorer this season.
Anstey responded with the first substitution of the game, bringing on Liam Murphy for Danny Gordon.
Halifax doubled their lead in the 63rd minute when Owen Bray intercepted the ball in Anstey’s half, surged forward, and calmly slotted a low shot into the bottom corner.
Town were now in full control and added a third just three minutes later. Cody Johnson fed Harris, who found himself in space and sent a shot trickling into the bottom-right corner for his 15th goal of the season.
The Shaymen made it 4–0 when Jay Turner-Cooke swung in a cross that evaded everyone and went straight into the net, scoring his third goal of the campaign and effectively sealing progression.
Adam Lakeland then made several changes, introducing David Kawa for Harris, Max Wright for Cappello, and Florent Hoti for Johnson. Further substitutions followed as Adam Adetero replaced Shaun Hobson and Jevani Mills came on for Will Smith.
Four minutes of added time were indicated, but Halifax saw the game out comfortably, denying the Nomads any late opportunities. The Shaymen kept a clean sheet and secured their place in the next round of the Isuzu FA Trophy.
The Shaymen will play Kidderminster Harriers at home on the 31st of January.
1 Sam Johnson, 4 Will Hugill, 5 Shaun Hobson (3 Adam Adetoro 79), 9 Will Harris (22 David Kawa 73) 11 Angelo Cappello (7 Max Wright 73), 15 Will Smith (16 Jevon Mills 79), 17 Owen Bray, 19 AJ Warburton, 27 Jay Turner-Cooke, 30 Cody Johnson (18 Florent Hoti 74), 36 Thierry Latty-Fairweather
Subs: 12 Nat Ford, 29 Sean Tarima
1 Anthony Nunez, 2 Kyle Tomlin, 3 Danny Gordon (14 Liam Murphy), 4 Jordan Annable ©, 5 Lewis Gibbens, 6 Tobias Liversidge (17 Ruben Gill 80), 7 Ronnie Kokkinos (16 Josh Burniston 67), 8 Henry Bestwick, 9 Courey Grantham (12 Tristen Thomas 67), 10 Tendai Chitiza, 11 Oscar Tonge
Subs: 18 Conrad Logan, 15 Nyle Blake, 19 David Nugent
Referee: Paul Marsden
Goals: Harris 53, 66 Bray 63, Turner-Cooke 71
Yellow Cards: Gibbens 12
Red Cards: None
Attendance 683 (125 away)
FC Halifax Town 4 Anstey Nomads 0
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