Dramatic late goals see Shaymen fight back to draw with Rochdale

The visitors appeared to have won it when Tyler Smith added to ex-Halifax striker Devante Rodney's early opener.

But The Shaymen showed some real spirit and resilience to claw their way back, especially after recent results, and get the share of the points they deserved after an improved performance.

Following some painful dropped points of late, this solitary one felt like a win, and has to be used as a springboard for the rest of the campaign.

Just like at York on Saturday, Halifax started the better of the two sides but conceded first.

And they were left fuming after Rodney's opener, convinced that he was offside when he was played in down the right of the box by Ryan East before a clinical finish at an angle.

Prior to that, Jay Turner-Cooke had fired narrowly wide, while The Shaymen had looked bright and purposeful.

Sam Johnson then denied Rodney a second with a fine save to keep out his header at a corner before Town were left protesting about another offside not given by the assistant referee against Rodney - what a plonker - before his cross just evaded Aidan Barlow at the far post.

Rochdale had the look of a team top of the table and bang in form, passing crisply and confidently, and defending well.

Town just took that extra touch in comparison, and delayed that little bit longer, more of their passes being hit in hope rather than expectation.

Rodney squandered a good chance towards half-time when his first time shot went wide from near the penalty spot.

Will Harris then should have hit the target with a header on the stretch from Josh Hmami's excellent cross.

There certainly wasn't as much between the teams as there had been at half-time on Saturday.

Halifax were bright and purposeful again at the start of the second-half, with Hmami firing wide before Harris' shot was saved by Oliver Whatmuff.

Rochdale were rattled, with their double-change before the hour mark a back-handed compliment to the hosts.

A mixture of good defending and calmness under pressure saw Rochdale come out the other side of Town's strong spell though.

Johnson parried substitute Connor McBride's shot after Harvey Gilmour's through ball after 62 minutes, but the Halifax keeper had been a second-half spectator until then.

Town still had more control of the game but were struggling to create clear chances.

Unlike Rochdale, who should have put the result to bed but sub Ian Henderson couldn't beat Johnson one-on-one.

Town then went up a gear again, and built some momentum, with Hmami's shot tipped over and Rochdale forced into some dogged defending.

The visitors finally looked to have got over the line when substitute Smith drove the ball in from an angle after Johnson had somehow kept out two of his shots from close range.

But Halifax weren't done yet, and got one back when a shot from 20 yards was parried by the keeper but Harris was there to bury the rebound for his 22nd goal of the season.

And then parity was restored and bedlam was unleashed among the home fans when a cross from the right by Cody Johnson turned in at the back post by Lavery.

Halifax: Johnson, Warburton, Hobson, Mills, Lavery, C Johnson, Turner-Cooke, Bray (Morris 83), Hugill (Waters 77), Hmami (Kawa 83), Harris. Subs not used: Ford, Adetoro, Jenkins, Crowe.

Scorers: Harris (88), Lavery (90+2)

Shots on target: 7

Shots off target: 7

Corners: 6

Rochdale: Whatmuff, Gordon, Ebanks-Landell, Perry, Adebayo-Rowling (Hosannah 40), Gilmour, East (Pettit 77), Moss, Rodney (McBride 56), Barlow (Smith 77), Dieseruvwe (Henderson 56). Subs not used: Pritchard, Francis.

Scorers: Rodney (15), Smith (85)

Shots on target: 7

Shots off target: 3

Corners: 1

Referee: Declan Brown

Attendance: 2,749 (1,393 away)

Town man of the match: Jay Turner-Cooke. Used the ball so well, really looked back to his best.