Late equaliser sees Shaymen denied victory in draw at Maidstone

FC Halifax Town were denied back-to-back wins for the first time this season as Maidstone scored a late equaliser in their 1-1 draw.

Roarie Deacon left it late to rescue a point for the hosts after Mani Dierseruvwe looked to have come off the bench to win it for Town.

In the end, it felt more like a defeat.

A point on the road, as it did after Town's win at Scunthorpe when they drew at Maidenhead, is better than nothing and keeps what momentum Town have going.

But if York brought the best out in Halifax, then Maidstone brought out the worst in a poor game beset by a stark lack of quality from both sides.

It was an uglier game than the win over York, more even and and more direct.

The home side looked a threat in and around the box, had good pace in their team and weren't shy about getting the ball forward early and often on the artificial pitch.

Dangerman Jack Barham had a couple of shots inside the first 10 minutes, with Maidstone settling quicker.

Town were too passive rather than aggressive and creaked at the back a little whenever Maidstone got within shooting distance.

Rob Harker had headed tamely off target and Kian Spence fired across goal and wide from the left of the box in the first 20 minutes.

But The Shaymen weren't getting on the ball enough; no team had conceded more goals in the division than Maidstone, but the hosts' defence hadn't been stretched.

Jamie Cooke brought a decent save from Yusuf Mersin though as Town started to get a foothold half-an-hour in, but there still needed to be more care and precision to their passing rather than knocking it forward for the sake of it.

Town didn't need to match Maidstone's more direct style of play, they showed on Tuesday they possessed the quality to play good football, but weren't showing it enough.

Too often Halifax's first thought was to find a killer pass or get it from back-to-front immediately, which only gave the ball back to the hosts.

There needed to be more composure and control.

A killer pass was needed when Jack Hunter - one of three to come in for Town as well as Jordan Slew and Tom Clarke - could have sent Harker through one-on-one, but the pass wasn't strong enough.

Maidstone should have led at half-time when the lively left-winger Deacon's cut back found Regan Booty unmarked near the penalty spot, but he blazed his shot over the bar.

Tylor Golden had defended well at right-back against Deacon, and Town had got to half-time without conceding away from home for only the second time this season, but there had been stronger hints of a Maidstone goal than a Halifax one.

Quick-thinking by Luke Summerfield with a free-kick led to Harker running through on goal, but his imaginative chip was tipped over by the back-pedalling keeper.

Town needed more of that, but it didn't materialise.

Quality on the ball remained negligible, but at least the same could be said for Maidstone.

Halifax were doing enough at the back to be comfortable, but weren't doing anywhere near enough on the ball to hurt the league's leakiest defence.

But finally, mercifully, there was some quality from The Shaymen, and some poor defending from Maidstone, as they worked it through to substitute Dierseruvwe inside the box and the ball was rolled low past the keeper.

Maidstone ramped up the pressure after the goal, peppering the Halifax box with crosses and forcing some desperate defending.

The Shaymen withstood Maidstone's efforts, but they were nervy and edgy at the back, encouraging the hosts they could get something, inviting pressure.

It was a crawl rather than a cruise to full-time, and as the clock struck 90, Deacon equalised after the latest of several scrambles in the box from a free-kick.

Maidstone: Mersin, Hoyte, Mensah, Ellul, Galvin, Barkers (Odusanya 53), Corne, Booty, Alabi (Pattisson 64), Barham (Fawole 75), Deacon. Subs not used: Earle, Ghandour.

Scorer: Deacon (90)

Shots on target: 2

Shots off target: 6

Corners: 4

Halifax: Johnson, Golden, Debrah, Clarke, Senior, Summerfield, Hunter, Spence, Cooke (Smart 89), Slew (Alli 72), Harker (Dierseruvwe 64). Subs not used: Gilmour, Arthur.

Scorer: Dierseruvwe (67)

Shots on target: 4

Shots off target: 4

Corners: 5

Referee: Gary Parsons

Attendance: 2,397 (68 away)

Town man of the match: Tylor Golden, did everything well, defended solidly, tackled superbly.