Halifax Town crashed to a 2 v 0 defeat to at home to Grays Athletic as the Essex Club recorded their first ever win against The Shaymen.
Last season Halifax Town were one of the few teams Grays failed to beat which covered 4 games including the memorable two legged play off semi final, however this afternoon the Visitors return South with the 3 points and a defeat which leaves Chris Wilder's men looking for their first victory of the season.
Lewis Killeen returned from injury to replace Ryan Sugden in the starting line up and Jake Wright came in for the injured Matt Doughty.
The visitors signalled their intentions in the first minute when Craig Mawson had to make a comfortable save from Glenn Poole and took the lead on 16 minutes.Tyrone Thompson fouled John Martin and Aaron McLean's glancing header gave Mawson no chance.
Town fought back well, Shane Smeltz's cross after a run on the right was cleared and shortly afterwards Killeen forced a fine save from Ashley Bayes.Wright and Smeltz were involved in neat build up play which resulted in Killeen's curling shot that looked destined for the net until Bayes's fingertips intervened.A Danny Forrest free kick hit the wall as Town sought an equaliser.
But it was Grays who netted, doubling their lead 3 minutes before half time.A Town attack broke down, McLean surged past Adam Quinn and squared the ball to Michael Kightly who beat the advancing Mawson.This was classic football on the break at great pace.
Andy Campbell replaced Chris Senior at the start of the 2nd half as Town looked for the winning combination up front.Smeltz forced a save from Bayes moments after the restart and then put a free kick after a foul on Killeen over the bar.
Referee Mr Evans waved away two penalty claims within minutes after the hour mark.A surging run by Tyrone Thompson ended in hand ball claims and the referee refused again 3 minutes later when a Grays defender clearly handled on the floor.
Grays were not finished as an attacking threat.Mawson neatly turned Poole's 25 yard shot over the bad and somehow saved Dennis Oli's point blank header.
Gus Uhlenbeek made his Town Debut replacing Tyrone Thompson in the closing stages on an afternoon to forget for The Shaymen.But with a week's work on the training ground Chris Wilder will expect a better result at Cambridge next Saturday.
What did you think to the game and result. Let us know on the official Halifax Town messageboard
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| 1 | Craig Mawson | : | Ashley Bayes | 1 | ||||
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| 2 | Steven Haslam | : | Andrew Sambrook | 2 | ||||
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| 5 | Adam Quinn | : | Jamie Stuart | 4 | ||||
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| 16 | Mark Roberts | : | Jay Smith | 17 | ||||
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| 14 | Jake Wright | : | Adam Green | 3 | ||||
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| 7 | Danny Forrest | : | Michael Kightly | 14 | ||||
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| 8 | Martin Foster | : | Ashley Nicholls | 22 | ||||
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| 18 | Tyrone Thompson |  |
86 | : | John Martin | 10 | ||
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| 15 | Chris Senior | |
46 | : | Glenn Poole | 23 | ||
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| 9 | Shane Smeltz | |
62 | : | 87 | |
Aaron McLean | 11 |
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| 10 | Lewis Killeen | : | 64 | |
Lee Boylan | 9 | ||
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| 20 | Steve Torpey | : | Danny Knowles | 15 | ||||
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| 4 | Greg Young | : | 87 |  |
Jamie Slabber | 25 | ||
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| 11 | Ryan Sugden | |
62 | : | 64 | |
Dennis Oli | 7 |
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| 21 | Andy Campbell | |
46 | : | Nathan Moulds | 19 | ||
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| 22 | Gus Uhlenbeek | |
86 | : | Tom Williamson | 12 | ||
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| Goal Attempts | 5 | : | 4 | Goal Attempts |
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| On Target | 2 | : | 4 | On Target |
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| Crosses | - | : | 2 | Crosses |
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| Corners | 4 | : | 2 | Corners |
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| Offside | 4 | : | 2 | Offside |
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| Fouls | 9 | : | 9 | Fouls |
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| Free kicks | 12 | : | 13 | Free kicks |
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 Yellow cards |
1 | : | 2 | Yellow cards |
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 Red cards |
- | : | - | Red cards |
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| % Possession | 43 | : | 57 | Possession % |
