Men's 1s dominate again

Michael Jones stole the show as Halifax cruised to their 3rd win on the bounce in Yorkshire Division 1, scoring his 3rd consecutive hat-trick to make it 10 for the season, against an Airedale side who spent most of the game defending.

The pre-match talk focussed on being patient and maintaining possession and the Halifax coaching staff will have been delighted with the stats at full time - 20 shots on target and 70% of the game played in the opposition half. However the half time scoreline of 2-2 was certainly not what the home side would have wanted.

Jones along with strikers Matthew Graham and Jake Bamforth are in top form and they got their team off to the best possible start when Jones drove unchallenged into the Airedale “D” and drilled a low shot into the far corner of the goal. Bamforth then made it 2-0 as he finished from close range.

However for all their possession the home side found themselves going into the break on level terms, as Airedale scored twice in quick succession; the first from a free hit just outside the circle, with their striker driving into the area unchallenged to set up an easy finish at the back post. The second coming from a two on one break from a long ball from the back.

The second half started perfectly for the men from Park Lane – Jones driving his shot high into the net to edge his side ahead and Graham made it 4-2 in a well worked move, before Jones completed his treble with a find solo effort, breaking into the circle despite some heavy challenges and firing home a low reverse strike.