Shaymen produce stirring display to beat league leaders Wrexham

Town were stirring, spirited and sensational.

It was a win built on hard-work, effort, endeavour and commitment.

Unexpected, but fully deserved. And some way to celebrate reaching Wembley.

Halifax were 1-0 down at half-time thanks to Elliot Lee's opener, but a brace from Milli Alli and a goal from Mani Dieseruvwe saw Town achieve an astonishing comeback and inflict Wrexham’s first league defeat since October 4.

Wrexham settled better, shifting the ball efficiently and smoothly, but Town were alert and diligent at the back, reacting well, sniffing out and snuffing out the danger.

The hosts battled for loose balls, fought for fifty-fifty's. They were tenacious and aggressive, especially Tylor Golden and Jamie Cooke down Halifax's right flank.

They had to be.

Yes Wrexham had more quality on the ball, and saw more of it, but The Shaymen were at least determined not to make it easy for the visitors.

Halifax were nullifying them effectively, not letting them within sight of goal, keeping them at arm's length.

Wrexham lost the ball once or twice through sloppy passes midway through the first-half, but Town lacked the composure to take advantage, much to Chris Millington's frustration.

It happened again when a pass forward by a Wrexham player hit his team-mate and gifted Halifax a counter-attack, from which Alli slinked past a Wrexham tackle before his shot was parried by ex-England stopper Ben Foster, with the rebound just out of Mani Dieseruvwe’s reach.

Not long afterwards, Sam Dalby beat Adam Senior - one of three changes along with Jack Hunter and Cooke - to a high ball before setting it back for Lee, who picked his spot with a low shot from the edge of the box.

That was the difference, one decent chance not taken, the other put away.

After losing their way on the ball and Alli's effort, the goal came at a good time for Wrexham.

And it was a reward for Lee - who hadn't endeared himself to the Town fans by going forehead-to-forehead with Hunter and being booked for a foul on Cooke - after exerting a fairly heavy influence over proceedings for the league leaders, offering good movement, vision and awareness.

The goal seemed to take the shackles off Wrexham a little. There was a stinging shot from range by James Jones and another by Paul Mullin, which were both parried away by Sam Johnson.

Dieseruvwe was played in behind the Wrexham defence by Cooke, but ended up dragging a low shot wide across goal.

But Wrexham ended the half stronger, with Jordan Tunnicliffe heading a corner onto the bar.

The visitors mustn't have watched the video of last Saturday's game at Altrincham too closely though, as they backed off Alli a couple of minutes after the restart, allowing him to produce a low shot across goal from the left of the box into the bottom corner.

Dieseruvwe then fired well wide before a free-kick caused panic at the back for Wrexham. Town had some momentum.

Wrexham's had disappeared, they weren't as effective on the ball, they weren't doing enough to create chances, especially against some dogged, determined Halifax defending.

Johnson again denied Jones with a fine save low to his left.

Foster made an even better save to deny Cooke after the Town man jinked past two Wrexham defenders.

Halifax were going toe-to-toe with the National League's big spenders and it was difficult to see who would come out on top.

And then Alli weaved more magic.

After a weaving, sinuous run down the left of the box, he unleashed a low left-footed shot into the near corner. Cue pandemonium mixed with disbelief.

Gilmour could have added a third shortly afterwards but for Foster's save one-on-one.

The Shay was loving it. Well, the blue half was.

And they were in dreamland when Dieseruvwe swept the ball into the bottom corner from near the penalty spot.

Town were running away with it against the league leaders a week after sealing a place at Wembley. It was like a Hollywood fairytale.

Halifax: Johnson, Stott, A Senior, J Senior, Golden, Hunter, Gilmour, Capello, Alli, Cooke, Dieseruvwe (Harker 88). Subs not used: Arthur, Warburton, O'Rourke, Keane

Scorers: (Alli 47, 71), Dieseruvwe (85)

Shots on target: 6

Shots off target: 6

Corners: 2

Wrexham: Foster, O'Connell, Tozer, Tunnicliffe (Palmer 72), Barnett, Cannon (O'Connor 86), Jones (Davies 76), Mendy, Lee, Dalby, Mullin. Subs not used: Howard, McFadzean.

Scorer: (Lee 32)

Shots on target: 5

Shots off target: 6

Corners: 8

Attendance: 7,863

Referee: Ben Atkinson

Town man of the match: Has to be Alli. He has got a touch of magic about him and he cast his spell again today. Plenty of other contenders but Alli produced two terrific goals.