FC Halifax Town produced one of their most complete performances of the season to sweep aside an in-form Solihull Moors side at The Shay, earning a fully deserved victory against a team that had arrived with four wins from their last five under former Town boss Chris Millington. Five changes from the defeat at Sutton brought fresh legs and added sharpness, and it showed right from the first whistle.
Halifax started brightly, finding early joy from set pieces thanks to the excellent delivery of Josh Hmami. Twice in the opening exchanges he whipped dangerous balls into the box, and from one of them Latty-Fairweather rose well at the near post. His glancing header, helped on by a slight deflection, drifted agonisingly wide with keeper Laurie Walker rooted and beaten.
Solihull’s first real sight of goal came on nine minutes when Bradley Nicholson’s cross took a deflection and landed kindly in front of Tyrese Sinclair. Fresh from scoring last weekend against Scunthorpe, he took the shot on from a very tight angle, aiming for the near post, but fired into the side netting. It was a warning for Halifax, though the visitors struggled to create anything more meaningful during the early stages.
The opening quarter of an hour felt disjointed, broken up by fouls and loose touches, but Halifax continued to produce the game’s more dangerous moments. And on 22 minutes they made one count. Once again, it came from Hmami’s right foot, this time a perfectly clipped corner that found Adam Adetoro rising highest. His downward header was somehow blocked by James Clarke on the line, but the rebound fell straight to Will Harris, who reacted quickest and tapped in from close range for his fifth goal of the season.
The goal injected urgency into Solihull, who immediately threatened from kick-off when a loose pass out from the back allowed Tyreese Campbell to slip past Bray and drive towards the Halifax box. With a two-on-two shaping up, he attempted to find Connor Wilkinson, but the pass lacked precision and Sam Johnson swept up the danger confidently.
Solihull’s best work continued to come through Sinclair down the left. After a neat exchange between Wilkinson and Whitmore, Sinclair cut inside and slipped his run beyond AJ Warburton before hitting a low effort that trickled past Johnson’s near post without ever carrying enough power to seriously test the Halifax goalkeeper.
Halifax, however, were growing in confidence, and their movement in forward areas caused constant problems. Cody Johnson claimed a loose ball and immediately sparked a counterattack, finding Harris, who laid it off to Jamie Cooke. He combined brilliantly with Hmami, who drove towards the penalty area with Harris’ run opening space ahead of him. Hmami shifted the ball onto his right foot and bent a low curling shot toward the far corner, only for Walker to get down sharply and palm the effort away.
Town kept the pressure on, and Walker produced one of the saves of the season moments later. Latty-Fairweather delivered a beautifully floated ball to the back post, where Hmami guided a cushioned header back across goal. It looked destined for the far corner until Walker arched backwards and clawed it out. Harris arrived for the rebound from only a few yards out, but somehow the Laurie Walker sprang back up and spread himself to divert the shot wide. It was an outstanding double save and one that kept Solihull in the contest.
But the visitors’ hard work unravelled just before half-time. From their first corner of the game, Halifax broke with real purpose. Harris cleared well, spun away from his man and found AJ Warburton, who drove forward. His attempted take-on rebounded kindly for Will Hugill, who surged into the Solihull half with space ahead of him. Nicholson came flying across in desperation but, according to referee Emily Heaslip, mistimed the challenge completely, taking none of the ball and sending Hugill tumbling. The referee wasted no time in producing a straight red card, leaving Solihull reduced to ten men on the stroke of the interval.
From the free-kick that followed, Hmami curled a lovely effort over the wall, but despite having Walker beaten, the ball skimmed the top of the bar and dropped over. Halifax headed into the break frustrated not to be further ahead but firmly in command.
They resumed the second half with real purpose, making the most of the extra man. Cooke weaved brilliantly past two challenges from substitute Darius Lipsiuc before sliding a low cross into the six-yard area. A slight deflection helped the ball find its way to Harris, who delicately flicked it past the outstretched Walker for his second of the game and sixth of the season.
Halifax were relentless now, and Harris almost had his hat-trick just after the hour. Johnson played out to Cooke, whose bending effort took a deflection and fell into Harris’ path. Having slightly overrun the ball, he arched backwards to meet it with a header and still managed to direct a looping effort past Walker, only for it to crash off the inside of the post and bounce away. Halifax had already struck the woodwork once, and it summed up their dominance since the dismissal.
Solihull created little after the break but did force one moment of alarm when Scott High’s corner caused confusion in the Halifax box. Johnson spilled under pressure and Emmanuel Sonupe swivelled sharply to get a shot away, but Angelo Cappello reacted superbly to hook the effort off the line.
That proved the final warning before Halifax sealed the game. With fifteen minutes remaining, Hmami tidied up a loose ball following a scramble after a cross from the right, slipping a short pass into Harris. He rolled his defender with a clever feint, opened up his body and drilled a low finish across Walker into the far corner to complete his hat-trick, Town’s first league treble since August 2016 against Nuneaton.
The game’s final notable moment came when Jamie Cooke, who had been excellent throughout, mistimed a late challenge on James Clarke and was shown a straight red card. It slightly marred an otherwise strong performance from the midfielder, but by that stage the result was never in doubt, with Halifax firmly in control.
From there, Halifax managed the closing stages with calm and composure, moving the ball confidently and keeping Solihull pinned back in their own half. With Hmami’s creativity, Cooke’s energy, and Harris’ ruthless finishing, Town delivered one of their most complete and convincing performances of the season, fully deserving all three points at The Shay.
Match Stats
FC Halifax Town
1 Sam Johnson ©, 3 Adam Adetoro, 4 Will Hugill, 5 Shaun Hobson, 8 Josh Hmami (20 Jack Jenkins 76), 9 Will Harris (31 Owen Devonport 76), 10 Jamie Cooke, 17 Owen Bray (15 Will Smith 84), 19 AJ Warburton, 30 Cody Johnson, 36 Thierry Latty-Fairweather (11 Angelo Cappello 64)
Subs: 12 Nat Ford, 16 Jevon Mills, 29 Sean Tarima
Solihull Moors
1 Laurie Walker, 2 James Clarke, 4 Jamey Osborne © (12 Darius Lipsuic 46), 5 Alex Whitmore, 6 Bradley Nicholson, 10 Conor Wilkinson (10 Emmanuel Sonupe 58)11 Ben Worman (3 Cameron Green 46), 15 Scott High, 17 Tyrese Sinclair (21 Oscar Rutherford 80), 18 Jacob Wakeling (22 Joe Sbarra 40), 26 Tyler French
Subs: 33 Aaron Flahavan, 8 Sam Bowen
Referee: Emily Heaslip
Goals: Harris 22, 53, 70
Yellow Cards: Wilkinson 18, Hmami 45 + 2, Clarke 71, Lipsuic 77
Red Cards: Nicholson 45, Cooke 83
Attendance: 1294 (79 away)
FC Halifax Town 3 Solihull Moors 0
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