Who has made the last eight in the FA Trophy?
HALESOWEN boss Paul Smith’s dream of progress to the latter stages of the FA Trophy is still alive after another giantkilling act at The Shay.
The BetVictor Southern League Division One Central side from the Black Country made light of the three-division gap between the sides and find themselves in the last eight and will be feeling confident having beaten the third-placed side in the National League.
Smith, the former Bromsgrove Sporting and Redditch United boss who took over at the Grove in the summer, said: “I am delighted with the win and the player’s performance.
“I thought we were excellent and the dream continues.”
In contrast, Halifax boss Pete Wild’s plans for a Wembley day out in May are all over – in the FA Trophy at least.
“It was a very disappointing performance,” he told “Full credit to Halesowen because they were the better team and fully deserved to go through.”
Halifax had the first real chance of the game five minutes in. A good ball found Jack Redshaw at the corner of the box. Cutting inside he fired a low shot which deflected over the bar for the corner.
Redshaw aimed for the back post but the referee blew for a free-kick.
A momentary lapse of concentration from Cameron King gave Halesowen their best chance of the half. A poor back-pass found Robbie Bunn, who fired a low shot towards the bottom corner which was well saved by keeper Sam Johnson.
Another great moment for Halesowen saw a shot deflect narrowly wide of the post as both sides looked for the opener. The corner came in, but Johnson was able to punch clear.
Halesowen got the breakthrough less than four minutes into the second half. A through ball narrowly evaded the boot of Nathan Clarke and Jamie Molyneux made no mistake in finding the bottom corner.
Halifax battled on but had to wait until the 63rd minute for their first real chance of the second half – Redshaw’s corner finding Jerome Binnom-Williams, who headed on but Tobi Sho-Silva’s acrobatic effort flew well over.
With just under a quarter of an hour to go, Michael Duckworth was brought down after a rash challenge from Robert Evans who saw a yellow card. Duckworth stayed down, requiring several minutes of treatment before being helped off the pitch.
Halifax continued to press but were woefully off target again on 83 minutes, winning themselves a free-kick in a good position on the edge of the box after Josh Macdonald was fouled. Binnom-Williams fired it into the wall and Charlie Cooper mis-hit the follow up which went well wide.
In the end, visiting keeper Brendon Bunn had a relatively easy afternoon with few denying Halesowen Town a deserved and historic victory.