FC Halifax Town: Mixed feelings for Harvey from Woking game

The result extended the unbeaten run under the Halifax manager to 11 games against an in-form Woking team, and moved them two points clear of the relegation zone.

But Town had a man advantage for the majority of the match after Woking’s Chris Arthur was sent-off in the first-half.

Harvey said: “I am disappointed. I thought we had enough possession to have won the game.

“Having said that, to come here and take a point from Woking, who are on a terrific run of form, is extremely good.

“I’m disappointed now but tomorrow I’ll probably be happier.”

Harvey was left frustrated his side were unable to break down a resolute Woking defence in the second-half, despite dominating possession.

“The onus was on us to try and break them down but I don’t think they (Woking) showed an awful lot of ambition to go and get a second goal,” said Harvey.

“We were very naive and got caught out for the first goal on the counter-attack.

“The boys didn’t know how to deal with it. They go gung-ho and the forget about defending and we let them in.

“At half-time we got them re-organised and I don’t think Woking showed a great deal of ambition to go get a goal, it was just a case of could we break them down or not and unfortunately we weren’t able to do that.”

The Town boss agreed with the decision to dismiss Woking full-back Chris Arthur for a crunching tackle on Halifax’s James Bolton midway through the first-half.

“In my day that wouldn’t have been a sending off, but the letter of the law is that if you come off the ground, that’s what you get,” Harvey said.

“I don’t think he’s hurt our lad, he’s got the ball, but he did come off the ground and you’re always risking that (being sent-off).

“It looked a pretty hefty challenge so I wasn’t surprised when he was sent-off.”

Striker Richard Peniket could have won the game in the dying moments in what was his first Town appearance for 10 months, but scuffed his shot straight at Woking keeper Jake Cole from 12 yards.

“It broke nicely for him, it just sat up and you thought ‘go on, get your foot through that’, but I don’t know what quite happened,” reflected Harvey.

“The direction was OK but he didn’t quite connect the way he would have liked.

“That would have been a dream return for him.”

Midfielder Dino Fazlic came on for his Town debut after an hour, and Harvey says he has a chance to prove his worth between now and the end of the campaign.

“He’s a good player, he was available and we thought he looked like he could strengthen the squad,” added the Town boss.

“He’s come off the bench hardly knowing the players, which was a bit difficult for him.

“Nicky Wroe hadn’t played for a fortnight so it was a bit difficult for him and possibly his performance wasn’t up to scratch today compared to what he was producing before he had the break.

“Dino’s got an opportunity from now until the end of the season to prove he’s good enough for an extended contract.”