FC Halifax Town 0-0 Solihull

FC Halifax Town remain seven points clear of the National League relegation zone after a 0-0 draw at home to Solihull Moors.
FC Halifax Town v Solihull MoorsFC Halifax Town v Solihull Moors
FC Halifax Town v Solihull Moors

A point is useful in the circumstances in keeping Solihull at arms length, but The Shaymen lacked the intensity and energy they’ve shown so far under manager Jamie Fullarton.

They still had the best chances, with Mike Fondop-Talom wasting two wonderful opportunities, and remain unbeaten under Fullarton.

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But hopefully they don’t reflect on this being two points dropped come the end of the season.

Fullarton had a tough choice between recent goalscorers Ben Tomlinson and Fondop-Talom in attack, so much so that he chose both. with Tomlinson on the left in a 4-2-3-1.

The Fullarton revolution continued as, deprived of Scott Garner, Michael Duckworth, Cliff Moyo and Martin Riley through injury, he added two loanees to his squad before the game; Bradford right-back Jacob Hanson started, while Sheffield United centre-back Sam Graham was on the bench.

And Hanson wasted little time in charging forward from right-back inside the first 10 minutes before finding Kosylo, who was tripped 30 yards out.

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On the opposite flank, Josh Wilde, making his first appearance since Billy Heath’s last game in charge - a 2-1 defeat to Leyton Orient on January 30 - collected a superb cross-field pass by Matty Brown before finding Tomlinson in the area, but his tame shot was saved by Max O’Leary.

Halifax displayed more attacking intent than the visitors and really started to build some momentum by the midway point of the first-half, with Tomlinson and Matty Kosylo both going close before a superb one-two between Connor Thomson and Hanson set the full-back away down the right, only for the ineffective Thomson to miss his kick trying to connect to the cross.

An awful error by Solihull defender Fiacre Kelleher let in Fondop-Talom after half-an-hour, but after racing clean through on goal, the striker inexplicably blazed over.

He was then booked for a dive almost as embarrassing as that miss after chasing onto the effervescent Kosylo’s through ball.

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By the time the interval arrived though, Solihull had seen Paul Green’s long-range strike fly just wide and Tyrone Williams spurn a good chance after dispossessing Tomlinson inside the area, with Town regressing into aimless balls forward and a lack of impetus.

Two errors by Wilde in the first five minutes of the second-half offered Solihull encouragement, with one leading to Kwame Thomas testing Sam Johnson from close range.

Adi Yussuf then squandered a great chance when he blasted over from inside the six yard box, with Town still to stir from their slumber; The Shaymen have generally got better as games have gone on under Fullarton, but that wasn’t the case here.

Matty Brown headed Jake Hibbs’ corner against the post with 20 minutes remaining, before Kelleher brought a fine save from Johnson with a bullet header from five yards.

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Fondop-Talom had a glorious late chance to make amends for his earlier miss when he was found after a superb run by Kosylo, but his shot from eight yards was well saved by O’Leary.

Halifax: Johnson, Hanson (Graham 54), Brown, McManus, Wilde, Thomson (Hibbs 70), Hotte, Collins, -Kosylo, Tomlinson, Fondop-Talom. Subs not used: Nicholson, Oliver, Denton.

Shots on target: 5

Shots off target: 5

Corners: 5

Solihull: O’Leary, Kelleher, Williams, Carline, Daly, Carter, Sterling, Reckford, P Green, Yussuf (Hylton 62), Thomas (Reid 76). Subs not used: K Green, Lait, Martinez.

Shots on target: 6

Shots off target: 5

Corners: 8

Attendance: 1,849

Referee: Marc Edwards

Town man of the match: Sam Johnson