FC Halifax Town 0-1 Halesowen

The Shaymen fell well short of the standards they have set in recent weeks as they exited the Trophy with a desperately poor display.

If they'd reproduced the kind of performances that had seen off Maidenhead, Dover and Bromley of late, Town would have gone through.

Instead, they were lifeless, disjointed and badly lacking in cohesion and quality. No outfield player for Town came out of the game with any credit. A National League side would have won by a much greater margin.

The Shaymen made the imposing, attacking start Pete Wild had wanted, but didn't score when they were on top, with Jeff King, Josh Staunton and Jack Redshaw, who replaced the ineligible Devante Rodney, all having efforts off target in the first 10 minutes.

Halifax were that bit more refined, quicker to control the ball and move it, on a pitch badly cut up in places now the rugby is back at The Shay.

The game went flat after Town's early flurry though as Halesowen worked their way into the contest.

Halesowen's first task will probably have been to get through the first 20 minutes unscathed: mission accomplished.

Errors began to creep into Town's play, giving encouragement to the visitors and cause for concern among the home fans.

The worst of which was a collectors' item, a misplaced pass by Cameron King, which gave Robbie Bunn sight of goal from just inside the box, but Sam Johnson kept out his low shot.

Halesowen's growing confidence was emphasised by a lovely one-two between James Bowen and Montel Gibson before Bowen's shot nearly hit the bullseye but was deflected into the side-netting as The Shay held its breath.

Josh Staunton gesticulated for Town to up the tempo when they were slow to restart play with a free-kick 10 minutes before the break, but the hosts had come well off the pace by then, lacking in composure or cut-and-thrust.

Town increasingly resorted to long balls forward as the opening half went on, which were of little use to Jamie Allen, and even less to Redshaw.

Halesowen matched Town by playing a 3-5-2, and the visitors eventually settled into a solid unit, giving nothing away.

But they looked limited in attack compared to National League sides, rarely penetrating Halifax's rejigged back line, which saw Michael Duckworth at right centre-back behind Jeff King at right wing-back.

Town had shown glimpses of their extra quality, but just not often enough, and hardly at all inside the Halesowen penalty box.

Halesowen weren't going to roll over, Town had to earn their place in the last eight.

That was made a whole lot tougher when a through ball by Robert Evans evaded Nathan Clarke's sliding leg, and Molyneux coolly slid the ball past Johnson one-on-one.

Would that rouse Halifax from their slumber?

The Shaymen were too ponderous, lacking aggression and intensity. A shadow of the side that has started 2020.

Jacob Hanson and Tobi Sho-Silva were both brought on before the hour-mark - a sign of Wild's disapproval.

Town made very hard work of getting back into the game, spending too much time on the ball inside their own half, and when they did reach the final third, lacking inspiration or perspiration.

Halesowen's time-wasting tactics didn't help, and neither did the bobbly surface, but Sho-Silva should have done better than mis-kick his shot well wide when the ball fell to him near the corner of the six-yard box.

Wild's and the crowd's frustrations over Halesowen's time-wasting then reached boiling point when Evans launched into a dreadful lunge on Duckworth on halfway, and was only punished with a booking, and causing the Town man to hobble off.

Clarke headed a corner just wide with five minutes to go, moments before Montel Gibson squandered a chance to seal it for Halesowen when his low shot from the left of the box was saved by Johnson.

Halifax: Johnson, Staunton, Clarke, Binnom-Williams, Duckworth (Macdonald 81), J King, Cooper, Williams, C King (Hanson 54), Redshaw, Allen (Sho-Silva 59). Subs not used: Appleyard, Nolan.

Shots on target: 3

Shots off target: 11

Corners: 6

Halesowen: B Bunn, Wright, McCone, Piggott, Bowen Ashmore 64), Evans, Hawker, R Bunn, Ali, Molyneux (Yates 69), Gibson (Holmes 88). Subs not used: Parsons, Sammons, Manning, Catlow.

Scorer: Molyneux (49)

Shots on target: 4

Shots off target: 6

Corners: 4

Attendance: 1,483 (346 away)

Referee: Martin Woods

Town man of the match: Sam Johnson