FC Halifax Vs Fleetwood Town
Result : 0 - 2
Football Conference Youth Alliance Cup
Football Conference Youth Alliance Cup
It was cup action for the Academy squad against a Halifax team who had earned themselves an impressive win the week previous, running out 7-1 victors over table topping FC United. With Town coming into the game on the back of two defeats and two draws in the league it looked like a tough game was ahead of them.
Preparation for the game was disrupted through moving from grass to the 3G pitch and after eventually starting the game, Town showed again why teams have gained results against them. Trying to play the impossible ball soon placed Town under pressure and if not for some good defensive work and a fantastic close range save from keeper O'Boyle town could have seen themselves behind. Opportunities were created and without the killer instinct these chances came to nothing. The best chance of the first half for Town came from a free kick 25 Yards out with Wynn curling round the wall only to be denied by the woodwork with the home keeper scrambling across his line. The score line remained deadlocked at half time.
The interval allowed for the coaching staff to reassess the situation and set some tactical boundaries for the players. The players had been informed to play keep ball for the first ten minutes, this paid dividends as with the players passing the ball round well and creating space for themselves and one another opportunities became more fluent and of better quality. The town players looked more comfortable on the ball and retained possession well, pressing for the football when out of possession. It wasn't till the 72 minute when some great passages of play saw the ball out wide and when fired across the box, the movement across the defender by Duffield was too much for them and he turned the ball into the net. Town continued to defend well and held Halifax to long range efforts. The game was finally put to bed in spectacular style when Wynn found himself space 40 yards from goal and riffled a shot which beat the keeper and went in off the crossbar.
O'Boyle was delighted after the game as this was Towns first clean sheet of the Academy season.
Both Alan Wright and Steven Carlin were elated with the performance of the players in the second half, with the way there kept possession of the ball and created support for each other shows the level of performance the lads can create. When the players get the basics right the rest of the game comes with it and the performance and result today shows this.
Squad: O'Boyle, A Bennett, Christensen, Smith, Tanser, Vivian, Wynn, Few, King, Crolla, Duffield.
Subs: Croston, K Bennett, Mooney.
Scorers: Duffield, Wynn.
