It was the first-ever meeting between the two sides, with The Shaymen and Worthing both entering this game after picking up 7 points from their last nine, but it was Worthing who continued this rich vein of form and found their third consecutive victory in a 2-1 home win, with first-half goals from Joeseph cook and Jordan Young.
Worthing began the game with high levels of intensity, getting bodies forward and winning the first corner of the game within the first 30 seconds, showing their intent early in the match
Worthing carried on this high intensity, scoring the first goal of the game in the seventh minute following their second corner with a powerful header from Joseph Cook into the bottom left corner following an excellent delivery from Jordan Young
Town responded quickly, equalising in the 14th minute when Will Hugill picked up the ball from Ben Tollitt on the right-hand side just outside the 18-yard box and caught the Worthing defence and goalkeeper off guard by taking his shot quickly to find the bottom right corner for his second league goal of the season.
The next big opportunity came in the 22nd minute when Hugill picked up a loose ball in the middle of the field to find Ben Tollitt on his own on the left-hand side with a free shot on goal, but he fired it over.
Worthing attempted to take the lead again just after the 30th minute mark, with Jordan Young taking on an ambitious free kick from around 30 yards from goal and nearly succeeded with his attempt, just hitting his shot slightly over True Grant’s goal.
Worthing kept the intensity up when number seven Coleman de-Graft broke down the right-hand side in the 35th minute to earn a free shot on goal, only to send it wide and leave True Grant worried.
The home side restored their lead in the 39th minute after another break, when Corey Adjetey Brew struck from just outside the box; it deflected off teammate Jordan Young on the way through, leaving the Halifax goalkeeper flat-footed and finding the bottom right corner.
Play was halted in the 44th minute following a head clash, but both players found their feet and carried on playing.
The first chance of the second half came two minutes after the restart following a well-worked set piece from the Shaymen and a looping header from Cody Johnson, but no real power in his effort.
The first yellow card of the game went to the Shaymen’s Tayt Trusty in the 49th minute, after a late challenge on goalscorer Jordan Young.
The referee reached into his pocket for the second time of the afternoon, handing out a yellow card of the game to Worthing defender Jayden Moore following a shirt pull to stop the attack.
The substitute Theo Wainman made his first introduction of the game in the 66th minute by finding himself in the referee’s book just as Tayt Trusty did
The Shaymen got reduced to 10 players in the 76th minute, following substitute Dylan Crowe making a last-man challenge to save his team from a certain goal threat but, due to this, left his side with a man down for the remaining 15 minutes.
Worthing had another clear goalscoring chance in the 88th minute, with forward De-Graft failing to find the back of the net and hitting a tame effort towards the Shaymen goalkeeper.
Worthing forward Charley Kendall also found his way into the referee’s book in the 88th minute after claiming for a penalty.
Following seven tense minutes of additional time, the referee blew his whistle to end an exciting, end-to-end, thrilling match in which Worthing FC were found victorious 2-1.
On to Tuesday night now for the Shaymen, with a tough home league fixture against Boston United on John McGrath’s radar
Match Stats
Worthing
13 Taylor Seymour, 2 Joel Colbran (c), 3 Cory Adjetey-Brew, 4 Jack Wadham (12 Harry Ransom 86), 5 Joe Cook, 6 Jayden Moore, 7 Razzaq Coleman De-Graft, 15 Ricky Aguiar, 24 Charley Kendall (17 Bailey Smith 90), 27 Jordan Young (21 Emmerson Sutton 71), 28 Charlie Waller
Subs: 32 Gerson De La Cruz, 16 Sam Packham, 18 Owen Spicer, 25 Harvey Boddy
FC Halifax Town
33 True Grant, 3 Raheem Conte (21 Theo Wainman 61), 2 Max Bardell, 5 Shaun Hobson, 25 Tristan Gill (23 Dylan Crowe 46), 20 Tayt Trusty, 30 Cody Johnson (c), 24 Tommy McDermott (27 Cruz Allen 86), 4 Will Hugill (11 Connor Douglas 73), 17 Ben Tollitt (14 Amari Morgan-Smith 73), 9 Conor Carty
Subs: 1 Sam Johnson, 27 Cruz Allen, 10 Zak Gilsenan
Referee: Dan Blades
Goals: Cook 7, Hugill 16, Young 39
Yellow Cards: Trusty 50, Moore 58, Wainman 66, Kendall 88
Red Cards: Crowe 76
Attendance 2634 (140 away)
Worthing 2 FC Halifax Town 1
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