Men's 2nds lose out in tight game

Airedale I 2 Halifax II 0

Early mistakes cost Halifax II dear as they lost to Airedale in a game that was a lot closer than the score suggests.

As in previous weeks Halifax started slowly, but this time Airdale punished an early mistake by Willis to score from their first attack in the opening minute. This was followed ten minutes later by a second when a lack of marking left an Airdale midfielder free in the D to double the lead.

Halifax regrouped and began to play themselves in to the match with a more secure midfield based on sub Dave Spencer coming on early. With Oliver James making good breaks Halifax began to find space as wide players Paul Mayes and Cameron Hellawell started to find John Horsley up front. However the best chance fell to Kristian Mayland whose fantastic run, beating the keeper and reverse stick shot deserved a goal, but he was denied by the Airdale sweeper diving across the goal to keep the ball out.

The second half continued to be incredibly competitive with neither side able to gain dominance, and chances few and far between, though Horsley had a couple of chances from close range, it was not to be. Airedale were happy to sit on their lead and began to increasingly play possession hockey as Halifax became more desperate, as they realised they were going to leave empty handed.

Despite the result Halifax should be happy that they went to a top of the table side and competed for 60 minutes. They now have a must win match against similarly placed Sheffield Hallam, with the losing team from that match looking squarely at a relegation battle for the rest of the season.