Tom Denton believes FC Halifax Town can start to dream big as they reached the 2nd round of the FA Cup for the very first time last night.
The striker’s spectacular first half strike was cancelled by Corey Whitley’s strike on 73 minutes before the MBI Shay erupted into glorious scenes of celebration thanks to a stunning last minute strike from substitute Matty Kosylo.
“Moments like that at the end with the crowd are always great moments to be a part of” said Denton. “It’s a great achievement for us to reach the second round of the cup and to do it in that fashion is always great. On a personal note it’s a great moment for me too having never reached this round before in my career.”
It was an interesting opening 45 minutes for Denton. Prior to the striker nestling his right footed effort into the top scorer for his 14th goal of the campaign, David Lynch’s thumping volley inside 35 seconds was disallowed due to a supposed push from Denton on the back of the covering Dagenham defender in the build-up. 9 minutes later yet another goal was disallowed for Town as Denton’s near post header was ruled offside after tremendous link up play between Jordan Sinnott and MacDonald.
Speaking to Shaymen Player HD after the game Denton was adamant his header should have stood.
“I’m still convinced my header was onside. Macdonald’s cross was an out swinger from practically the bi-line so it was a really strange decision from the linesman. Thankfully we didn’t let these decisions get to us and I managed to get my goal before half-time.
“I thought first half we really came out and got at them. Dagenham really struggled to get anything going so we can take great credit in that aspect. We could have had the game wrapped up in the first 25-30 minutes with the number of chances we had” said Denton.
“Second half our tempo dropped, we missed the penalty which no team wants to see happen and they grew into the game after that. With the clock ticking down you start to prepare yourself for extra-time but thankfully Matty’s made up for it at the end with a wonderful strike- no better time to seal a victory”
Attention now turns to the historic 2nd round tie away at National League side Eastleigh on Sunday 4th December, with just one more victory standing in the way of Billy Heath’s men from the dreamland of the 3rd round.
“We’ve got to go to Eastleigh with the same mind-set as we did against Dagenham. They were pushing for promotion and we made it difficult for them to play against us. It’s a long journey down again but I think it’s a very winnable game for us and believe that we can progress into the next round. If we can get them back to the Shay like we did with Dagenham that isn’t a bad scenario either for us.
It’s a long journey down south again for the team and supporters but I think it’s a very winnable game for us and believe that we can progress into the next round- and then you can really start to dream big in terms of who we could get in the draw” Denton concluded.
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