Stunning strikes from Matt Pearson and Lois Maynard sealed FC Halifax Town’s second victory of 2014 at the expense of struggling Tamworth. A goal in either half was enough to settle a scrappy match where the playing surface made it tough for both sides to find their rhythm.
Maynard’s goal was especially breath-taking as he collected Scott McManus’ pass in his own half before surging through the Tamworth midfield and striking an exquisite effort into Cameron Belford’s top corner from 30 odd yards. The 25-year-old doesn’t hesitate to admit he’s never scored a goal as good as that in his career and that he might now have to start shooting more often: “Never! Maybe in high school in a rubbish game but I’ve never ever scored a goal like that. If I get into those positions you might see a few more! Hopefully they’ll fly in”.
As the former Rochdale man found the space open up in the middle of the pitch, Lee Gregory started to make his run looking for the pass but there was only one thing on the goalscorer’s mind: “I was always going to shoot, as soon as I dropped the shoulder I thought I’ll dribble this a bit more and then Greggs shouted at me for not passing it through! I made up for it though and he said sorry”.
As for the team performance it was a solid display that was built upon a solid defensive effort, especially from Simon Ainge who had a terrific game at the heart of the defence: “It was a bit of a scrappy game, we all worked hard. We had 10 or 15 minutes where we were off it but that’s quite normal for a game. Overall we worked very hard”.
The hard work was required as the pitch was cut up in several areas which hindered a lot of attacking play from both sides and Maynard says made it a lot tougher out on the field: “It was seriously heavy, it takes it out of you and it’s hard to get across the ground. It was quite muddy and soggy but we got the three points in the end”.
Maynard’s midfield partner Pearson marked his return from suspension by getting himself on the scoresheet early on with a fine 20 yard effort which arrowed into the top corner to set The Shaymen on their way to three points. With both men either having to cover defensive positions or sit out with suspensions in recent weeks this was the first match in some time they had the chance to form the partnership they moulded so effectively earlier on in the season: “It’s always a pleasure to play with Matty to be honest, he gives 110% all the time. He got himself a goal as well so we’re happy for him”.
Town now sit three points outside the play-offs but have played more matches than many of their rivals, however Maynard knows with each game the team have to look forward and perform every single week: “The aMBition is to keep going until the end and see what we can achieve. We’ve got to take one game at a time and see how it goes”.
Next weekend sees The Shaymen travel to bottom club Hyde FC who haven’t registered a home win all campaign. It represents a great opportunity to gain a second away win of the season but the versatile midfielder says it must be treated like every other game: “We treat it like every other game, we’ll go there and hopefully win the game. Obviously they’re bottom of the league but it doesn’t matter, they’re a good team as we saw when they came up here but we’ll go there confident”.
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