FC Halifax Town cruised to victory at Tamworth following an early quickfire double from Will Smith and Will Harris.
A blistering start from the Shaymen saw them take the lead after just three minutes through Will Smith. Harris then doubled the advantage fifteen minutes later, poking home at the back post. Tamworth rallied in the second period, but Halifax were never placed under sustained pressure and eased to victory in the end.
Thierry Latty-Fairweather and Jay Turner-Cooke were the two players to drop out of the side for the Shaymen, with Owen Devonport and Shaun Hobson coming into the starting XI.
It was a lightning start for Halifax as they looked to dominate a Tamworth side who had suffered a 7–1 defeat to Solihull Moors at the weekend. A neat passage of play from the visitors, wearing their lime green strip, resulted in a corner. Josh Hmami swung the ball into the box, and following a scramble, Will Smith reacted quickest to bundle the ball past Jasbir Singh in the Tamworth goal.
Following the opener, Halifax won a series of corners, although none proved as fruitful as the first. Will Hugill did have a half-chance, however, with his effort from the edge of the area bouncing wide of the uprights.
The Lambs looked to respond in the fifteenth minute when a slow ball rolled across the face of the Halifax penalty area, but Manny Duku was unable to reach it. Devonport was then booked moments later for simulation.
The Shaymen were not left waiting long for their second goal. A surging run from AJ Warburton found Harris unmarked at the back post. His initial effort was saved by Singh, but the forward reacted quickly to poke home the rebound and put Halifax in a commanding position.
Angelo Cappello became the second Halifax player to be shown a yellow card after cynically tripping a Tamworth player during a counter-attacking move.
As the half drew to a close, the home side began to assert themselves. Despite creating two good headed chances, Halifax maintained their two-goal cushion heading into the break.
Shortly after the restart, Cody Johnson became the third Halifax player to enter the referee’s book. The resulting free kick, however, caused no issues for Town.
Kwaku Donkor was the first Tamworth player to be cautioned after tripping Will Hugill following a loss of possession.
For much of the second half, Halifax sat back and allowed the home side to come at them. The Shaymen dealt with everything thrown their way with relative ease during the early stages of the period.
Ronan Maher looked lively after the restart, and his lobbed effort almost caused Sam Johnson problems as it looped onto the roof of the net.
The introduction of the rapid Beck-Ray Enoru caused Halifax some concern, as he embarked on a blistering run down the right flank before forcing Johnson into a smart save.
It was not until the 75th minute that Adam Lakeland turned to his bench for the first time, with Shaymen top scorer Hmami replaced by Turner-Cooke.
Five minutes from time, Devonport looked to wrap up proceedings, but his dipping effort was well pushed over the bar by Singh. Halifax’s next change saw Harris replaced by David Kawa.
An additional five minutes were played at the end of the second half, during which Latty-Fairweather replaced Warburton. With little action in stoppage time, Halifax comfortably saw out the game to claim a 2–0 victory and extend their unbeaten run to six matches.
Tamworth
1 Singh, 5 Digie, 8 Bates, 8 Milnes ©, 9 Duku (10 Enoru 65), 14 Mols, 15 Donkor (2 Curley 65), 18 Cullinane-Liburd, 26 Hollis (11 Fairlamb 65), 27 Lynch (4 Tonks 80), 31 Maher
Subs: 13 Rachel, 12 Rye, 42 Kurtaran
FC Halifax Town
1 Johnson, 3 Adetoro, 4 Hugill, 5 Hobson, 8 Hmami (27 Turner-Cooke 77), 9 Harris (22 Kawa 88), 11 Cappello, 15 Smith, 19 Warburton (36 Latty-Fairweather 90), 30 Johnson, 31 Devonport
Subs: 12 Ford, 16 Mills, 17 Bray, 29 Tarima
Goals Smith 3, Harris 19
Yellow Cards: Devonport 15, Cappello 32, Donkor 57
Red Cards: None
Attendance TBC
Tamworth 0 FC Halifax Town 2
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