A clinical display on the road made it five unbeaten as FC Halifax Town cruised to victory over Solihull Moors.
Halifax made just the one change from the eleven that beat Boreham Wood last time out, with Thierry Latty-Fairweather coming in to replace Dylan Crowe.
The Shaymen started positively against a Moors side winless in eight coming into the tie, with the Halifax midfield particularly impressive in the early stages, dominating possession through the middle of the park. Despite that control, it was a Solihull corner that ultimately led to Town’s opener.
The set piece was cleared at the second attempt, the ball falling to Will Hugill, who slipped it to the left side of the box for Hmami. He looked to curl one into the bottom right corner, but Laurie Walker could only parry the effort into the path of Will Harris, who took a composed touch before lashing it into the back of the net. It was his 20th league goal of the season, four of them now against Solihull following his hat-trick in the reverse fixture.
Following the early breakthrough the game mellowed in the evening sun. Moors’ first real chance came after 35 minutes when Darius Lipsiuc chipped a ball to the back post where Cameron Green tried his luck, only to be blocked. Stevenson then headed towards goal but Sam Johnson was equal to it.
The four minutes of added time at the end of the first half proved more than enough for Halifax to double their advantage. An outstanding counterattack was sparked by Josh Hmami intercepting in midfield before combining in a neat one-two with Turner-Cooke. The ball was then played to Harris, whose effort was blocked, but it fell kindly to AJ Warburton. His low cross picked out Hmami in acres of space inside the box, and the midfielder made no mistake, finishing high into the roof of the net.
For a moment it appeared the Shaymen had made it three, as Hmami converted from inside the box, only for the referee to have already whistled for a foul on Walker. A few minutes later, former Town man Scott High tested his luck from the edge of the area, but his effort drifted narrowly wide.
Harris and Hmami both entered the book following a scuffle inside the box involving both sides.
With fifteen minutes remaining, the home side were reduced to ten men as High lashed out at Turner-Cooke following a tackle in the middle of the pitch, a particularly costly moment for Solihull, who enter the game with one of the smallest squads in the division at just 19 players. Adam Lakeland made a double change in the wake of the dismissal, with Dylan Crowe and David Kawa introduced to replace Harris and Latty-Fairweather.
Solihull showed occasional glimpses of promise through set pieces and half chances following the red card, but nothing that seriously troubled the Town defence. The final changes of the evening saw Billy Waters replace goalscorer Hmami, while Florent Hoti came on in place of Will Hugill.
Despite their comfortable two-goal cushion, Halifax remained ruthless as Turner-Cooke surged through the middle of the pitch and slipped in the newly introduced Kawa, who calmly slotted home a third, his first goal since October. Town then had six minutes of injury time to enjoy as they cruised to their second 3-0 victory over Solihull Moors this season.
Solihull Moors:
1 Walker, 3 Green (19 Sonupe 62), 4 Osborne © (11 Worman 56) 5 Whitmore, 6 Baines, 8 Moore, (16 Tipton 79) 12 Lipsuic (21 Rutherford 79), 15 High, 22 Sbarra, 26 French, 29 Stevenson (7 McFarlane 79)
Subs: 33 Flahavan, 23 Howell
FC Halifax Town
1 Johnson ©, 4 Hugill (18 Hoti 93), 5 Hobson, 8 Hmami (26 Waters 86), 9 Harris (22 Kawa 76), 15 Smith, 19 Warburton, 24 Palmer, 27 Turner-Cooke, 30 Johnson, 36 Latty-Fairweather (23 Crowe 76)
Subs: 12 Ford, 16 Mills, 17 Bray
Referee: James Durkin
Goals: Harris 12, Hmami 45 + 2, Kawa 90
Yellow Cards: Osborne 45, Walker 69, Hmami 69, Harris 69
Red Cards: High 76
Attendance: 968 (133 away)
Solihull Moors 0 FC Halifax Town 3
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