Halifax battle hard and return with point

The Shaymen have gone three hours without a goal this season, but the result represents a good return from a game that proved every bit as tough as manager Billy Heath had predicted.

Jack Barthram, Asa Hall and Adi Yussuf all had shots off target in the first 10 minutes as the hosts settled the quickest.

The visitors were their own worst enemy in repeatedly conceding possession. Matty Brown let Connor Oliver’s pass go through his legs, allowing Bedsente Gomis to nip in before he was denied by Sam Johnson.

Barthram headed off target from close range soon after then Oliver hit the bar against the run of play after a superb crossfield pass by Charles.

Normal service was resumed as a delightful pass by Alex-Ray Harvey picked out Barthram, who fired into the side-netting, before Johnson keep out Yussuf’s low volley. Charles broke clear onto a loose ball before rounding goalkeeper Stuart Moore, but Barthram cleared off the line.

Substitute Dan Cockerline nearly scored with his first touch but Johnson saved superbly from his low shot inside the box, before tipping over Liam Hughes’s free-kick.

Barrow: Moore, Barthram (Hughes 73), Jones, Dunne, Diarra, Nieskens, Harvey (Bauress 84), Gomis, Hall, White (Cockerline 69), Yussuf. Unused substitutes: Audel, Panayiotou.

FC Halifax Town: Johnson, Duckworth, Riley (Tomlinson 17, Kosylo 82), Garner, Brown, Wilde, Hotte, Oliver, Dixon, Charles, Denton. Unused substitutes: Nicholson, McManus, Morgan.

Referee: Simeon Lucas.