An eventful second half saw FC Halifax Town take an away point against Forest Green Rovers, who were top of the table going into the fixture.
The dawning of the game saw the home side enjoy the better part of possession despite the early stages of the game having no clear chances for either side.
After Halifax had settled into the game, Town started to see more of the ball and their defence continued to diffuse any Forest Green opportunities. The defence’s guard may have dropped when Adam Adetoro mistimed a challenge on the edge of the box against Forest Green’s Adam May, forcing the referee to give a freekick in a dangerous area. Luckly for The Town, they weren’t punished on this occasion, with May’s set piece effort exceeding the bar.
Half an hour into the game saw an abundance of Forest Green chances leaving the Halifax defence cautious of their opponents.
Their first chance saw forward Christian Doidge play a through ball to winger Tom Knowles, which welcomed the attacker into the away side’s box. The wide player struggled to keep up with the pace of the ball and was forced to play a pass across the box, but the Town defence proved to be too organised to allow the ball through. Shortly after, the best chance of the half came from an effort struck by Green Midfielder Harry Bunker which was cut back from the right-hand side by Sean Long. Bunker’s shot was hit first time on the edge of the box and forced Town captain Sam Johnson to make a diving save which saw the goalkeeper stay down after a possible injury concern.
Another free kick opportunity came in the 35th minute for the home side, with this chance being a lot closer to giving Forest Green the lead than their previous free kick earlier in the half. Charlie McCann took the free kick for the Rovers and his attempt just sailed wide of the near post, giving Johnson nothing to worry about.
The initial stages of the second half could have seen either team take the lead. The first team to look like scoring was Halifax, after their corner attempt saw the ball drop to the feet of Senior, who failed to beat the defensive urgency of Forest Green. The home side promptly replied by countering Halifax’s chance and made way to the other end the pitch. Attacking in numbers, the Rovers failed to convert their attack into what would have been this evening’s first goal, after Bunker’s shot from outside of the box was blocked by a Halifax defender.
Halifax appeared to be the livelier side after coming out from the interval, with both sides playing at a higher tempo than what was previously shown in the first half. Another Town chance came at the hands of Angelo Cappello in the 51st minute, rewarding Halifax for their fair share of possession. The winger’s chance was fired towards the keeper’s near post at speed and forced Jed Ward to make his biggest keeping effort of the night so far.
Despite the Town having offered more in the second half, they fell behind in the 62nd minute after Kyle McAllister found the net, to break the deadlock. His first time effort got the better of Johnson after Knowles played a ball into the feet of McAllister, who then fired his effort towards the far post.
After going into the lead, Forest Green found themselves entertaining a predominant amount of the ball. A wake-up call, in the form of a Billy Waters shot on target, came in the 71st minute, which forced Ward to make another eventful save at his near post.
Halifax Town’s efforts in the second half were finally paid off in the 86th minute after Andrew Oluwabori’s shot from distance found the back of the net. His attempt fell under the arm of Ward, who scrambled in an attempt to stop the ball from going over the line but proved to be too much of a task for the Forest Green keeper.
The momentum carried by the Town, after they brought the game back level, had many believing that they may have came away with more than just a draw, but the final whistle came too soon.
Match Stats
Forest Green Rovers
1 Jed Ward, 3 Sean Long, 5 Ryan inniss, 7 Kyle McAllister, 8 Charlie McCann, 9 Christian Doidge (23 Harry Cardwell 89), 11 Tom Knowles (6 Emmanuel Osadebe 89), 15 Jordan Moore-Taylor ©, 16 Harry Bunker (22 Joe Quigley 89), 17 Jamie Robson, 19 Adam May
Subs: 20 Jamie Searle, 2 Marcel Laviner, 4 Ben Tozer, 21 Teddy Jenks
FC Halifax Town
1 Sam Johnson ©, 5 Adam Senior, 11 Angelo Cappello (6 Jack Evans 60), 15 Will Smith, 2 Jo Cummings, 27 Adam Adetoro (19 Adan George 68), 23 Tom Pugh, 20 Jack Jenkins (26 Owen Bray 81), 10 Jamie Cooke (22 Andrew Oluwabori 73), 18 Florent Hoti (21 Zak Emmerson 90), 29 Billy Waters
Subs: 12 Nathaniel Ford, 24 Frankie Sinfiel
Referee: Richard Eley
Goals: McAllister 63, Oluwabori 86
Yellow Cards: Senior 65, Long 85
Red Cards: None
Attendance: 1205 (41 away)
Forest Green Rovers 1 FC Halifax Town 1
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