FC Halifax Town: Matty pleased to finally be making his mark at The Shay

It was the second game running Kosylo has come off the bench to score for The Shaymen after his goal against Kidderminster last Saturday.

All of which has come on the back of the former Nantwich man missing 11 games with a knee injury.

Kosylo had never gone beyond the FA Cup fourth qualifying round as a player, and admits scoring the goal to send Halifax into round two was a special moment.

“That goal was the highest point of my career to date,” he said.

“Having played at lower levels and being close to the first round, to score in the last minute against a team in the division above was a good feeling.

“I didn’t know how long was left until we got back into the changing room but with it being in the 90th minute, with it being the FA Cup, it makes it really special.

“There was a bit of relief, with us being 1-0 up and missing the penalty, and them being down to 10 men, we seemed to sink a bit after they scored.

“So to come on and do the business again for the team felt good.

“The sending off kicked them on a bit. The pressure’s off then being 1-0 down, and they rallied and put us under pressure.”

Kosylo sustained a tear in his meniscus, which is part of the knee and missed nearly two months of action.

“It happened at Fylde and then we played at Salford it wasn’t 100 per cent and I probably made it worse by coming on,” he said.

“I went to see a specialist and they gave me the instructions on what to do in terms of the rehab and avoiding an operation.

“It was only a grade one tear so I was able to avoid the operation, which was a good thing.

“It was more niggly. Any time I tried doing anything it would just go again.

“It took me longer to get back than I thought it would. When I did come back, in the last week of my rehab, I was thinking about going to the specialist and saying I need an operation because it wasn’t fully gone.

“It was frustrating but I carried on doing my rehab and then when I trained it was just a case of getting stuck in and seeing if I could weather it, and it seems good now.”

Kosylo’s comeback last Saturday came at the expense of Josh Macdonald, who came off injured with a toe injury he suffered climbing the stairs at home, an irony not lost on his team-mate.

“You never know what will happen in football, it changes so quickly,” Kosylo added.

“Josh picked up a bit of a freak injury at home and that affected him during the game so the gaffer called on me.

“I made sure I was ready, came on and I did my job for the team.

“It was a great feeling to score - I think you could tell by my celebration. There was a bit of relief as well.

“I expected to hit the ground running at the start of the season and it’s been frustrating for me, so it felt good.

“I felt like I was getting into the team. I started against Tamworth and Fylde and I felt I did OK.

“I almost got my first goal against Fylde but the keeper made a great save at the end.

“Then I picked up the injury. It was a bit of a freak one and it didn’t really affect me until a few days after.”