FA Cup 2nd Qual. Round - FC Halifax Town 6 Abbey Hey 0
Sat 22nd September 2012 | FA Challenge Cup | By Ian Templeman
Despite a spirited and battling performance from Abbey Hey, clinical finishing from FC Halifax Town ended the NWCFL side's hopes of causing an FA Cup upset at The Shay.
The League's sole remaining representatives in the competition kept their Blue Square North hosts at bay for 44 minutes in the Second Qualifying Round tie, but their resistance was broken by goals from Lee Gregory and Chris Worsley on the stroke of half time.
Any lingering hopes of a comeback were snuffed out when Jon Worthington fired home a third goal for the home side three minutes after the restart, and a further goal from Worthington and two from Dale Johnson – a player who spent time at Abbey Hey earlier in his career - sealed what was eventually a convincing win.
But Abbey Hey showed great spirit and endeavour throughout, and earned the applause they received from the home fans as they came off at the end of the game.
The home side signalled their intentions from the start, and from the first corner of the game in the fourth minute, FC Halifax Town skipper Danny Lowe floated a cross-cum-shot over the head of Abbey Hey keeper Jonathan McIlwaine and on to the roof of the net.
Three minutes later Abbey Hey had an even closer escape, when Phil Bolland's volley from Paul Marshall's corner rebounded off the crossbar with McIlwaine beaten.
However, play swung straight up to the other end, and Abbey Hey's Martin Pilkington finished off a strong run down the inside left channel by cutting inside the full back, and firing a shot just over the bar from 25 yards.
The home side continued to enjoy plenty of possession, and McIlwaine was by far the busier keeper, fielding two efforts from Paul Marshall before making a great double save at the midway point of the half.
From a cross into the box from right back Ryan Toulson, McIlwaine denied Halifax strikers Dale Johnson and then Lee Gregory with terrific point blank saves from close range headers.
On breaks forward, the pace of Martin Pilkington was troubling the Halifax defence, and on the half hour mark he outpaced the defence to chase a long ball from Danny Hewitt, but Halifax keeper Matt Glennon reacted quickly to clear.
Halifax continued to dominate possesion, however, and did get the ball in the net on 37 minutes although there was a clear foul on McIlwaine as he rose to collect a cross.
The Abbey Hey goalmouth continued to see plenty of action, and there were groans from the home support when Dale Johnson's knock down found Lee Gregory unmarked inside the six yard box, and the striker blasted the ball over with only the keeper to beat.
But Abbey Hey's resistance was broken twice in the space of a minute right on half time. An Abbey attack broke down on the edge of the Halifax box, and one long ball forward found Lee Gregory in space. Spotting McIlwaine off his line, the striker lofted a delightful chip over the keeper from 30 yards to open the scoring.
It got worse less than a minute later, when Halifax regained possession straight from the restart, and a neat passing movement set up Chris Worsley on the edge of the box, and although McIlwaine did get a hand to the midfielder's well struck shot he couldn't prevent it from ending up in the back of the net..
The previously growing rumblings of discontent from the home support were replaced by applause at the sound of the half time whistle, although the response could have been very different had the half ended a couple of minutes earlier.
Any hopes of a second half revival from Abbey Hey were snuffed out within three minutes of the restart, when a cross from the right was knocked down into the path of Jon Worthington, who buried a shot into the bottom corner of the net from 12 yards.
From then on it was a case of damage limitation for Abbey Hey, but they kept going forward when the opportunity arose and as the game approached the hour mark, a move up the left flank ended with Jon Hardy shooting wide from the edge of the box.
Halifax always looked menacing going forward, however, with their slick passing style causing Abbey Hey problems throughout, and after a good passing move produced a corner Phil Bolland's goal bound shot was cleared off the line with keeper McIlwaine beaten.
On 70 minutes a neat exchange of passes saw a Hardy shot saved by Halifax keeper Glennon, and when the ball was quickly cleared upfield, Dale Johnson danced through two challenges and produced a cool finish with a shot under the keeper to make it 4-0.
Three minutes later it was 5-0, and another excellent illustration of the neat build up play that Halifax produced throughout the afternoon. A pass into the box from full back Ryan Toulson was held up by Dale Johnson, who shrugged off a challenge before rolling the ball into the path of Jon Worthington who rifled a shot high into the top corner of the net.
Abbey Hey kept going and created one final chance with six minutes remaining. A great ball from Danny Hewitt on the left found Jon Hardy in space, and when the keeper beat out his shot, substitute Darren Morris fired the loose ball over the bar.
But a minute later, Halifax wrapped up what was, for them, a satisfactory afternoon with a sixth goal. This was another great finish from Dale Johnson, who collected a long ball on the edge of the penalty area, and curled a delightful shot across the keeper and into the far corner of the net.
FC Halifax Town:
Matt Glennon, Ryan Toulson, Jason St Juste, Phil Bolland, Jason Jarrett, Danny Lowe (c), Chris Worsley, Paul Marshall, Dale Johnson, Lee Gregory, Jon Worthington.
Subs: Phil Senior, Simon Hackney (for Jason Jarrett 46), Conor Qualter (for Ryan Toulson 72), Scott McManus (for Jason St Juste 56).
Abbey Hey:
Jonathan McIlwaine, Alex Byrne, Danny Hewitt, Nathan Finigan, Carl Borrell, Luke Gibson(c), Liam Murray, Josh Westmerland, Wes Harney, Martin Pilkington, Jon Hardy.
Subs: Sam Jones (for Wes Harney 72), Paul Smith (for Josh Westmerland 56), Darren Morris (for Luke Gibson 67), Mike O'Connor, Paul Sunderland, Ross Heywood, Damien Eley.
FA Cup 2nd Qual. Round - FC Halifax Town 6 Abbey Hey 0
Sat 22nd September 2012 | FA Challenge Cup
By Ian Templeman
Despite a spirited and battling performance from Abbey Hey, clinical finishing from FC Halifax Town ended the NWCFL side's hopes of causing an FA Cup upset at The Shay.
The League's sole remaining representatives in the competition kept their Blue Square North hosts at bay for 44 minutes in the Second Qualifying Round tie, but their resistance was broken by goals from Lee Gregory and Chris Worsley on the stroke of half time.
Any lingering hopes of a comeback were snuffed out when Jon Worthington fired home a third goal for the home side three minutes after the restart, and a further goal from Worthington and two from Dale Johnson – a player who spent time at Abbey Hey earlier in his career - sealed what was eventually a convincing win.
But Abbey Hey showed great spirit and endeavour throughout, and earned the applause they received from the home fans as they came off at the end of the game.
The home side signalled their intentions from the start, and from the first corner of the game in the fourth minute, FC Halifax Town skipper Danny Lowe floated a cross-cum-shot over the head of Abbey Hey keeper Jonathan McIlwaine and on to the roof of the net.
Three minutes later Abbey Hey had an even closer escape, when Phil Bolland's volley from Paul Marshall's corner rebounded off the crossbar with McIlwaine beaten.
However, play swung straight up to the other end, and Abbey Hey's Martin Pilkington finished off a strong run down the inside left channel by cutting inside the full back, and firing a shot just over the bar from 25 yards.
The home side continued to enjoy plenty of possession, and McIlwaine was by far the busier keeper, fielding two efforts from Paul Marshall before making a great double save at the midway point of the half.
From a cross into the box from right back Ryan Toulson, McIlwaine denied Halifax strikers Dale Johnson and then Lee Gregory with terrific point blank saves from close range headers.
On breaks forward, the pace of Martin Pilkington was troubling the Halifax defence, and on the half hour mark he outpaced the defence to chase a long ball from Danny Hewitt, but Halifax keeper Matt Glennon reacted quickly to clear.
Halifax continued to dominate possesion, however, and did get the ball in the net on 37 minutes although there was a clear foul on McIlwaine as he rose to collect a cross.
The Abbey Hey goalmouth continued to see plenty of action, and there were groans from the home support when Dale Johnson's knock down found Lee Gregory unmarked inside the six yard box, and the striker blasted the ball over with only the keeper to beat.
But Abbey Hey's resistance was broken twice in the space of a minute right on half time. An Abbey attack broke down on the edge of the Halifax box, and one long ball forward found Lee Gregory in space. Spotting McIlwaine off his line, the striker lofted a delightful chip over the keeper from 30 yards to open the scoring.
It got worse less than a minute later, when Halifax regained possession straight from the restart, and a neat passing movement set up Chris Worsley on the edge of the box, and although McIlwaine did get a hand to the midfielder's well struck shot he couldn't prevent it from ending up in the back of the net..
The previously growing rumblings of discontent from the home support were replaced by applause at the sound of the half time whistle, although the response could have been very different had the half ended a couple of minutes earlier.
Any hopes of a second half revival from Abbey Hey were snuffed out within three minutes of the restart, when a cross from the right was knocked down into the path of Jon Worthington, who buried a shot into the bottom corner of the net from 12 yards.
From then on it was a case of damage limitation for Abbey Hey, but they kept going forward when the opportunity arose and as the game approached the hour mark, a move up the left flank ended with Jon Hardy shooting wide from the edge of the box.
Halifax always looked menacing going forward, however, with their slick passing style causing Abbey Hey problems throughout, and after a good passing move produced a corner Phil Bolland's goal bound shot was cleared off the line with keeper McIlwaine beaten.
On 70 minutes a neat exchange of passes saw a Hardy shot saved by Halifax keeper Glennon, and when the ball was quickly cleared upfield, Dale Johnson danced through two challenges and produced a cool finish with a shot under the keeper to make it 4-0.
Three minutes later it was 5-0, and another excellent illustration of the neat build up play that Halifax produced throughout the afternoon. A pass into the box from full back Ryan Toulson was held up by Dale Johnson, who shrugged off a challenge before rolling the ball into the path of Jon Worthington who rifled a shot high into the top corner of the net.
Abbey Hey kept going and created one final chance with six minutes remaining. A great ball from Danny Hewitt on the left found Jon Hardy in space, and when the keeper beat out his shot, substitute Darren Morris fired the loose ball over the bar.
But a minute later, Halifax wrapped up what was, for them, a satisfactory afternoon with a sixth goal. This was another great finish from Dale Johnson, who collected a long ball on the edge of the penalty area, and curled a delightful shot across the keeper and into the far corner of the net.
FC Halifax Town:
Matt Glennon, Ryan Toulson, Jason St Juste, Phil Bolland, Jason Jarrett, Danny Lowe (c), Chris Worsley, Paul Marshall, Dale Johnson, Lee Gregory, Jon Worthington.
Subs: Phil Senior, Simon Hackney (for Jason Jarrett 46), Conor Qualter (for Ryan Toulson 72), Scott McManus (for Jason St Juste 56).
Abbey Hey:
Jonathan McIlwaine, Alex Byrne, Danny Hewitt, Nathan Finigan, Carl Borrell, Luke Gibson(c), Liam Murray, Josh Westmerland, Wes Harney, Martin Pilkington, Jon Hardy.
Subs: Sam Jones (for Wes Harney 72), Paul Smith (for Josh Westmerland 56), Darren Morris (for Luke Gibson 67), Mike O'Connor, Paul Sunderland, Ross Heywood, Damien Eley.
