Two points “that got away” for Men’s 3rds
An improving Men's 3rd team took a draw from an away trip to Wakefield and felt it was 2 points dropped, which is a mark of how far they have come since the start of the season
Halifax III 2 v 2 Wakefield IV
Scorer : Collins (2)
After continuing to improve week on week, Halifax third string travelled to Wakefield on Saturday morning hoping to record their first victory of the season. Following his excellent performance in goal last week, James Smith was promoted to the second team to be replaced by Stephen Lapworth and with the midfield bolstered by the return of Simon Meredith, Halifax began the game in confident mood.
With Trevor Love moved into central midfield, Halifax were able to secure a greater share of possession than had been the case in earlier matches and this lead to more opportunities to feed the forward line of Dave Collins and Phil Green. As the first half developed, Halifax began to increase the pace of their attacks with Nick Walton, Aidan Crowe and young Matthew Ward providing good opportunities for strikes at goal but a string of good saves by the Wakefield ‘keeper kept the visitors frustrated.
At the other end, the developing central defensive partnership of Graham Rodgers and Jamie Maddock nullified most of the Wakefield attacks and with strong rearguard action from stand-in keeper Lapworth, the game remained goal less at half time.
Starting the second period strongly, Halifax soon made a well-deserved breakthrough. A superb long ball from Maddock found Collins free on the Wakefield “D” and despite the close attention of the Wakefield keeper, he was able to slot the ball home. Halifax continued to press and it was not too long before Collins again found himself one on one with the keeper and the striker again forced the ball home.
As the clock ticked down, Halifax looked secure and the first win of the season looked to be on the cards. With less than 10 minutes remaining, however, Halifax Skipper Nigel Bowers was forced to leave the field with a nasty gash to the knee which forced a reorganisation of the defence at a time when wakefield were pushing for a way back into the match. A well-struck shot into the top corner of the net gave Wakefield their lifeline and, with minutes remaining a speculative shot into the Halifax “D” was deflected past Lapworth for the equaliser.
Although another point was secured, the Halifax team left the field feeling that this was two points that got away.