FC Halifax Town 2-0 Nuneaton

Goals in each half from Adam Morgan and Matty Kosylo saw FC Halifax Town cruise to a 2-0 win over a limited Nuneaton at The Shay.

Halifax simply had too much quality for the visitors, with Morgan unlucky not to score more and Kosylo again in effervescent form.

The Shaymen never had to reach top gear as they eased to victory, keeping their third clean sheet in a row in the process; Billy Heath’s team will surely not record an easier victory for the rest of the campaign.

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Stalybridge away seems like a long time ago now, with Town unbeaten in six, Heath polishing a manager of the month award and his rejuvenated team playing with confidence.

The result looked nailed-on almost immediately here as Town, unchanged from their win at Altrincham last week, made some early inroads down the right with Kevin Roberts and Kosylo linking-up effectively, and from an early Kosylo corner, Matty Brown headed just over on his first Shay appearance in nearly a year.

But it wasn’t too long until Town were ahead after a bright start when Morgan volleyed Roberts’ superb cross past the despairing dive of debutant keeper Tyrell Belford from 15 yards.

Similar to Tom Denton’s stunning effort against Dagenham in the FA Cup earlier this season, Morgan’s effort displayed the skill, technique and accuracy that more than hinted at his upbringing at Anfield, and was the one piece of real quality in the opening half.

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Nuneaton were offering nothing in attack and their defence looked vulnerable aside from the gargantuan presence of centre-back Exodus Geohaghon.

From another right-sided attack, Daniel Nti tried an impromptu back-flick after Kosylo’s low cross, but it didn’t have the power to beat Belford.

One-nil barely did the balance of the game justice, as Halifax enjoyed a comfortable cruise down easy street with no bumps in the road.

A combination of a lack of quality on the ball and good closing down by the hosts meant Nuneaton only had a wayward shot from 30 yards to show for their first 37 minutes.

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That was until a sloppy pass by Nti let in Ashley Chambers down the right, and from his cross Greg Mills must have thought he’d scored but for an outstanding save by Sam Johnson, who reached up his left hand to claw the ball away despite being prone on the ground.

Nti should then have done better at the other end after being played through by Richard Peniket, but he skied his shot over the bar when he should have at least hit the target.

If Town felt hard done-by to only lead 1-0 at half-time, it didn’t last long as Kosylo earned a penalty after he was tripped following a jinking run into the box, after which he sent Belford the wrong way from the spot.

Morgan might have put Nuneaton out of sight shortly afterwards, but his volley from another magnificent Roberts cross was blocked for a corner.

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The striker’s next effort of an increasingly impressive collection - an overhead kick from 10 yards - was ruled out for offside.

Morgan was then sent clean through midway through the second-half, but chose to chip Belford rather than running in on goal, and failed to loft it over the keeper.

He and Scott Garner then went close to a third as Nuneaton barely held onto Town’s coat tails, never mind threatened to get back into the game.

Halifax: Johnson, Roberts, Garner, Brown, Wilde, Kosylo, Lynch, king, Nti (Denton 65), Morgan (Sinnott 78), Peniket. Subs not used: Drench, Moyo, Hone.

Scorers: Morgan (16), Kosylo (48)

Shots on target: 7

Shots off target: 6

Corners: 7

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Nuneaton: Belford, Mutton, Langmead, Geohaghon, Penny (Nicholson 71), Mills, Morgan, Alhassan (Elliott 60), O’Hanlon, Chambers, Ironside (Kelly-Evans 72). Subs not used: Tempest, Dibble.

Shots on target: 1

Shots off target: 2

Corners: 5

Attendance: 1,573

Town man of the match: Matty Kosylo

Referee: Matthew Donahue

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