Worcester City 0-1 FC Halifax Town
FA Trophy First Round
Jonny Bonell reports from Aggborough
Attendance: 760
IT TURNED out to be another cruel cup exit for Worcester City tonight (Tuesday) as FC Halifax Town left Aggborough with their spot in the second round of the FA Trophy secured.
It was not quite the dramatic scenes of a 32-strike penalty shootout, but Scot Boden’s finish five minutes from time would have hurt just as much for the Blue and Whites.
The smash-and-grab 1-0 scoreline flattered the visitors who for much of the game were under the cosh from their lower-league opponents, themselves showing once more they are more than a match for anyone on their day.
Sean Geddes, Daniel Nti and Jordan Murphy all went close in a physical encounter but it wasn’t to be as Heeley’s side bowed out in the first round.
Geddes has created his own personal romance with cup competitions this season and after just 20 seconds he was a whisker away from continuing that fairytale.
The midfielder received a flick from Nti on the right hand side and tricked his way into the box before bending an effort with the outside of his boot which curled marginally wide.
Halifax looked a physically stronger outfit than the Blue and Whites have been plying their trade against this season, Scot McManus and Lois Maynard used their presence to try and bully their way to control in the defence and midfield respectively.
But it was Matty Glennon who had to keep Town in the game after 26 minutes when Nti bulldozed his way through the centre of the park and squared to Ellis Deeney. The City skipper picked his spot but his 25-yard drive was tipped behind by the stopper.
The best moment of a slow encounter was to come with five minutes left of the first period as Shabir Khan switched the ball to Geddes, he played in Deeney who in-turn gave it to Tyler Weir. Worcester’s right-back fed Nti who, despite having his back to goal, unleashed a fierce drive which fizzed inches over the top.
Having beaten Worcester 5-0 the last time these two sides met, The Shaymen looked a far cry from that outfit, Neil Aspin making his thoughts known having made two substitutes by the time the second half had even kicked off.
That re-shuffle seemed to spark life into the Conference Premier side as Will Hatfield volleyed over an Adam Smith delivery before Ross Dyer headed the resulting corner just past the post.
Dyer would go on to miss another guilt-edge chance after 65 minutes when Smith stood up a cross from the right and despite the midfielder arriving unchallenged at the back post he nodded harmlessly over. He was replaced less than ten minutes later.
After a less than confident night in the visiting goal, Glennon made amends for his performance with just 15 minutes remaining as he got strong hands behind Murphy’s sweetly stuck half-volley before watching Nti’s acrobatic follow-up fly out of the stadium.
Deeney tested Glennon once more with a speculative long range effort before Marc Roberts headed yet another Smith delivery against the post in an entertaining final ten minutes.
The sucker punch for the hosts came with just five minutes left on the clock as Boden made his way into the box, Jacob Rowe put his body on the line to deny the first effort but the Halifax striker made no mistake when the ball came back to him as he slammed past Vaughan.
There was to be yet more late drama as Worcester mounted late pressure when Weir struck just wide before substitute Tristan Dunkley’s one-on-one was sliced wide with almost the last kick of the game.