FC Halifax Town came into today’s game naming an unchanged lineup following last Saturday’s brilliant victory against Eastleigh.
It was a fast start to the game; Maidenhead struck the post within a minute via Nathan Ferguson’s effort. Halifax then answered straight back; Florent Hoti’s effort fizzed just wide of the post.
Minutes later, Tristan Abrahams tried to catch Sam Johnson off his line; his 40-yard effort rose just high of the bar, much to the relief of Johnson.
Angelo Cappello picked up an early booking following a foul on Jayden Mitchell-Lawson.
The game then lost a bit of momentum until a Town ball found Adam Senior at the back post; he then flashed a ball in across the face of the goal, but no Town player could connect.
Maidenhead had a golden chance to take the lead as Jayden Mitchell-Lawson raced through one-on-one with Johnson. The forward tried to take the ball past the keeper, but Johnson did excellently to prize the ball away from the attacker.
Both sides then huffed and puffed for the rest of the half, but neither side found a breakthrough, and they went in 0-0 at the break.
The home side looked certain to take the lead early in the second half when a ball across goal found ex-Halifax man Shawn McCoulsky, who was denied brilliantly by Johnson. Maidenhead then knocked the ball into the open net on the rebound; however, the linesman had already put his flag up to signal offside, and the game remained 0-0.
Cappello’s cross then worried Craig Ross in the Maidenhead net as he had to divert the tricky wingers ball over the bar.
The Shaymen’s first changes came in the form of Jo Cummings and Max Wright. They replaced Adam Alimi-Adetoro and Adan George.
Halifax got more and more dominant as the second half grew on, and this paid dividends eventually. Hoti and substitute Wright linked up superbly down the right-hand side; Hoti then unleashed a strike that nestled into the bottom corner for 1-0 Halifax. This was Hoti’s first goal of the season and 7th in a town shirt overall.
With 15 minutes to go, the home side looked the favourite to score the next goal in the game. McCoulsky latched onto a loose ball and round Johnson before trying to place the ball into the back of the net, but his effort clipped the outside of the post.
Galvin for Cappello was Halifax’s next change on the 80th minute mark.
Halifax slowed the game down in the final 10 minutes by winning a host of free kicks as they edged closer to winning their 4th game of the season.
8 minutes were added on to the end of the tie as the Stones looked to find an equaliser
Andrew Oluwabori and Tom Pugh entered the fray in place of Florent Hoti and Billy Waters in the dying minutes of the match.
Maidenhead had one last chance through Barrett, but his effort was blocked behind for a corner.
Halifax’s win means the Shaymen have now gone 5 games unbeaten, 3 of which they have won as they rise up to within reaching distance of the playoffs.
Town will travel to Braintree Town on Tuesday night in the Vanarama National League, 7.45pm kick-off
Match Stats
Maidenhead United
13 Craig Ross ©, 4 Will De Havilland, 5 Kevin Lokko, 8 Nathan Ferguson, 9 Shawn McCoulsky (14 Tobi Sho-Silva 86), 11 Jayden Mitchell-Lawson (32 Joseph Ajose 77), 16 Casey Pettit, 17 Reece Smith, 22 Miles Welch-Hayes, 23 Tristan Abrahams, 26 James Golding (25 Sam Barratt 84)
Subs: 1 Harvey Collins, 7 Ruben Carvalho, 21 Tariq Uwakwe, 24 Alan Massey
FC Halifax Town
1 Sam Johnson ©, 5 Adam Senior, 15 Will Smith, 27 Adam Adetoro (2 Jo Cummings 62) 11 Angelo Cappello (3 Ryan Galvin), 6 Jack Evans, 30 Scott High, 18 Florent Hoti (23 Tom Pugh 90+3), 10 Jamie Cooke, 19 Adan George (7 Max Wright 65), 29 Billy Waters (22 Andrew Oluwabori 90)
Subs: 12 Nathaniel Ford, 26 Owen Bray
Referee: James Bancroft
Goals: Hoti 69
Yellow Cards: Cappello 14, McCoulsky 55, De Havilland 88
Red Cards: None
Attendance: 1121
Maidenhead United 0 FC Halifax Town 1
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