Result slips away again for Men’s 3rds

Halifax III 1 v 2 Leeds V

Scorer : Cullen

The unsettled start to the season continued as Halifax made 5 changes to the team who secured a draw at Wakefield the previous week. Whilst the squad was bolstered by the availability of Fred Owens, Tom Cullen, Lee Chapman and Jason Smith, the loss of the defensive pair Graham Rodgers and Jamie Maddock and midfielder Trevor Love to the 2nd team left them short of defensive cover against a Leeds team who had started the season strongly.

Even with the changes in personnel, Halifax started the match strongly. With Cullen and Collins combining well upfront and Smith and Simon Meredith providing strength and vision in midfield, the home team were able to secure the lion’s share of possession and force a series of penalty corners, but were unable to press home their advantage. With captain Nigel Bowers filling the central defensive position alongside2nd team captain Dave Manning who is returning from injury, an energetic and skilful Leeds attack posed little serious threat and it was certainly against the run of play when they took the lead midway through the half.

Halifax responded well to the set-back and continued to push forward and, late in the half, they were rewarded when Cullen’s penalty corner attempt was stopped on the line by a Leeds defender with Cullen stepping up to put away the resultant penalty stroke with ease.

As with several games this season, the half time team talk emphasised the necessity to take full points from the positive first half, but once again the team ultimately came up short. Continuing to press for the winner, another excellent performance from the ever-improving Matthew Ward down the right and strong contributions from Nick Walton and Aidan Crowe on the opposite flank, numerous opportunities came and went, despite the best efforts of the Halifax forward line. As with the first half, the pace of the Leeds forward line was handled well for the most part, but with chances missed in attack, Halifax paid the price as Leeds bagged the winner.

Ultimately, another game where Halifax have come away pointless where they deserved better. With no match next weekend, and the potential of a full squad to choose from, the team looks more than capable of securing the illusive victory when they welcome an unbeaten York V to Park Lane at the beginning of November