Halifax held by Oxford City on frustrating afternoon at The Shay

Rob Harker's first-half goal but Town in control of the match but Pierre Fonkeu equalised for a revitalised Oxford after the interval, with Town unable to recover.

Never has the cliché a game of two halves seemed more apt.

The Shaymen were hugely impressive in the first 45, but laboured badly in the second-half.

Three wins out of four had been in sight, but the old habits from last term reared their ugly head again, and two points were dropped.

Halifax looked like a team in the mood to show they'd learned their lesson from last season, setting about Oxford - the kind of team they slipped up against last term - with admirable zeal and tenacity.

Adam Senior diverted a corner wide and Andrew Oluwabori breezed two men before his shot blocked in a dominant opening.

Oxford looked nervous at the back when put under pressure, and there was no shortage of that.

There was a swerving shot from 25 yards by Nya Kirby that required a full-stretch save by Sam Johnson 20 minutes in, but other than that, the visitors hadn't threatened.

Jamie Cooke had a left-footed dribbler hit the post before Oxford cleared an effort off the line from a corner moments later.

Town had been superior in every department. Quicker, sharper, hungrier.

Their tempo was fast and unrelenting, they dominated 50-50's. Cooke epitomised the performance, making some superb runs in-behind the defence and leading the charge off-the-ball, exuding the fearlessness and fortitude developing in this young side.

A lot of Halifax's most incisive moves came down the right, with Senior stepping out effectively from the back and Tylor Golden and Cooke combining well.

The two Jacks - Hunter and Evans - didn't relinquish the midfield control they'd enjoyed at Oldham either.

It didn't take Inspector Morse to work out there was an inevitability about Oxford falling behind.

Nor who might score it, after his thunderbolt at Boundary Park on Tuesday.

A clever flick on by Cooke played Harker in, and after an Oxford defender was bustled out of the way, the Town man was left one-on-one and finished calmly past Chris Haigh.

Harker could have had another before the break but could only head just over the bar on the stretch after Haigh had flapped at a left-wing cross.

Oxford were being restricted to shots from distance, but went close again through captain Reece Fleet's vicious drive, which shaved the post.

Anything other than a Halifax lead at half-time would have been a travesty.

That lead was wiped out though in what had been a starkly different start to the second-half, with Halifax having come off the pace and Oxford imposing themselves more.

Danger man Josh Parker was played in behind the Town defence and outpaced Jordan Keane before his cross left Fonkeu with a simple finish past the man on the line.

Evans had a right-foot shot flash wide with the keeper beaten as Town responded fairly well to the equaliser, but Oxford were now less timid and passive, and presenting more of a barrier.

The Shaymen weren't the same dominant, assured side they'd been in the first-half. Individual errors were creeping into an increasingly disjointed display, with Town having lost their joie de vivre.

Sacré bleu.

Halifax were unrecognisable from the first-half. Creaking at the back and toothless in attack.

It was Oxford who looked likelier to score again, with Johnson saving a header in added time right on the line, and Oxford claiming it was a goal, after some desperate defending from Town.

Halifax: Johnson, Senior, Keane, Stott, Golden (Cosgrave 76), Hunter, Evans (Summerfield 84), Galvin, Oluwabori, Cooke (Wright 65), Harker. Subs not used: Cummings, Cappello.

Scorer: Harker (32)

Shots on target: 2

Shots off target: 11

Corners: 4

Oxford: Haigh, Burley, Carroll, Miccio, Williams-Bushell (Wilson 67), Kirby (Humphrey-Ewers 83), Fleet, Ashby, Coyle, Parker, Fonkeu (Potter 62). Subs not used: Harrison, Moore.

Scorer: (Fonkeu 54)

Shots on target: 3

Shots off target: 9

Corners: 5

Attendance: 1,597

Referee: David Mcnamara

Town man of the match: I'll give it to Jack Hunter. Provided the platform to a lot of Town's best passages of play and was his usual quietly effective self in midfield.