FC Halifax Town 1 Welling 1: Record is intact but Harvey left unhappy

Kingsley James put Halifax into a deserved lead only for Kadell Daniel to equalise.

Halifax are still unbeaten under Harvey, but the manager felt his side were below-par. “We weren’t good – that’s probably the worst we’ve played since I’ve been in charge – I think it’s two points dropped,” he reflected.

“We were so lax today, there was no energy and no urgency. They may well have got a winner but it should have been wrapped up earlier. We had two really good chances.

“Nicky Wroe’s had an open net and I can’t believe he’s knocked it over the crossbar.

“Then Kingsley’s got through with a great opportunity – he’s got a tremendous strike but he didn’t hit that one at all well.”

Halifax should have taken the lead when the ball fell kindly to Wroe 12 yards out, but the Halifax captain blazed over.

Jordan Burrow’s pass played in James one-on-one with Marek Rodak, but the midfielder’s effort was drilled rather than placed, and the goalkeeper kept it out.

Sam Johnson produced a fine double save almost straight from the restart from Xavier Vidal then Sahr Kabba.

Just when they needed it most, Halifax got their breakthrough when Connor Hughes’s shot was parried by Rodak, who also blocked Burrow’s follow-up but could not prevent James finding the net from close-range.

Daniel curled a sumptuous shot beyond Johnson from 20 yards out to bring Welling level.

FC Halifax Town: Johnson, Bolton, Brown, Bencherif, Roberts (S McDonald 85), Wroe, James, Fazlic (Hughes 36), McManus, Peniket (Hibbs 63), Burrow. Unused substitutes: Porter, J MacDonald.

Welling United: Rodak, Chesmain, Chambers, Fagan (Nortey (9), Daniel, Lee, Ferry, Harris, Williams, Vidal (Wellard 79), Kabba (Bakare 75). Unused substitutes: McEntegart, Adeyinka.

Referee: M Coy (Durham).

Man of the match: Hamza Bencherif.