FC Halifax Town fell to another defeat at home as struggling Maidenhead United snatched all three points thanks to a late double.
The Shaymen came into Saturday’s important clash against Maidenhead having made two changes, with Jamie Cooke coming into the team alongside Daniel Nkrumah, who made his first start for Town.
The game’s first real action saw Kane Ferdinand pick up a booking for the visitors. The match lacked any goalmouth action until the 38th minute, when Reece Smith’s trickery gave Joshua Johnson the chance to strike from the edge of the box, but his effort went narrowly wide of the left post.
Tom Pugh then picked up the game’s second card after tripping Shawn McCoulsky, who was looking to break forward.
Maidenhead made a substitution at the break as Tristan Abrahams entered the fray in place of Casey Pettit.
The Shaymen had a golden chance to take the lead just after halftime. Florent Hoti clipped a ball down the line for Nkrumah to chase. In the process, he shrugged off his man before driving toward goal. He looked to knock the ball back to Cooke, but the Magpie defender got there just in time.
A double change from Chris Millington saw Sean Tarima and Zak Emmerson both make their way onto the Shay pitch. Following these changes, the game’s best move took place. Josh Emmanuel won the ball high up the pitch before combining with both Nkrumah and Florent Hoti, before the latter fired over the bar from the edge of the area.
Angelo Cappello was then booked for Town as he fouled Remy Clerima.
Halifax must have thought they had gone ahead with 20 minutes to play. Some good work from Angelo Cappello gave Nkrumah possession of the ball, but he appeared to be fouled. However, referee Andrew Miller waved away the appeals. Hoti and Josh Emmanuel then both had efforts that were eventually blocked.
Town’s next change gave Luca Thomas 10 minutes to try and grab the winner, with Daniel Nkrumah the man making way.
With five minutes of normal time remaining, Maidenhead found a goal. Smith picked up the ball centrally before finding Sam Barratt, who powered the ball home into the bottom corner for his fourth of the campaign.
Just three minutes later, the visitors doubled their lead. Smith’s clearance caused all sorts of issues for the Shaymen defence. Former Town loanee McCoulsky latched onto the loose ball before lobbing Toby Savin for his 12th of the season.
Halifax did have a couple of late chances through the likes of Ryan Galvin and Luca Thomas; however, none of these troubled Maidenhead too much. In the end, it was comfortable for the away side, who saw out the remainder of the game to secure back-to-back wins.
FC Halifax Town
31 Toby Savin, 16 Josh Emmanuel 5 Adam Senior, 27 Adam Adetoro, 3 Ryan Galvin, 11 Angelo Cappello (14 Harvey Sutcliffe 87), 23 Tom Pugh (29 Sean Tarima 62), 20 Jack Jenkins (26 Owen Bray 87), 18 Florent Hoti, 8 Daniel Nkrumah (9 Luca Thomas 80), 10 Jamie Cooke (21 Zak Emmerson 63)
Subs: 12 Nathaniel Ford, , 22 Dubem Eze
Maidenhead United
34 Sam Howes, 4 Will De Havilland ©, 6 Thierry Latty-Fairweather (19 Owen Cochrane 87), 9 Shawn McCoulsky (14 Tobi Sho-Silva 90), 10 Kane Ferdinand, 15 Joshua Johnson, 16 Casey Pettitt (23 Tristan Abrahams 46), 17 Reece Smith (22 Miles Welch-Hayes 90), 20 Remy Clerima, 21 Brendan Kiernan (25 Sam Barratt 75), 30 Manny Onariase
Subs: 24 Alan Massey, 26 Chris Wreh
Referee: Andrew Miller
Goals: Barratt 86, McCoulsky 88
Yellow Cards: Ferdinand 34, Pugh 43, Cappello 69
Red Cards
Attendance: 1485 (57 away)
FC Halifax Town 0 Maidenhead United 2
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