FC Halifax Tn 5 Chorley 0: Little trouble for Shaymen as they set up showdown with Bantams

A first FA Cup meeting with near-neighbours Bradford City awaits next month and expectant Shaymen fans will be counting down the days already, as will the club’s hierarchy with a bumper crowd and a welcome financial windfall nailed on – maybe further boosted by TV cash.

Since their reformation, 
C Halifax have already had cup first-round assignments with League One outfits MK Dons and Charlton Athletic in the past four years.

But neither will have whetted the appetite as much as the arrival of the Bantams, who have visited The Shay for a competitive game just once since the Spring of 1982, a League Cup clash in September 1998.

A chant of ‘Bring on the Bradford’ got going soon after Halifax’s 14th-minute opener from Richard Peniket and the dismissal of former Shaymen striker James Dean four minutes later was also heralded in song as the party pretty much began for home supporters in what proved to be a very 0ne-sided victory.

The Shaymen’s current footballing connections with Bradford are plentiful, with club director Bobby Ham and chairman David Bosomworth both formerly on the board at Valley Parade and current players Matt Glennon, Simon Ainge, Steve Williams all former Bantams.

While all mention of Bradford will have been frowned upon by management ahead of last night’s fourth qualifying round replay – with Chorley still to negotiate – it will surely have been on the players’ minds. And among a fair few others as well.

As Chorley manager Garry Flitcroft correctly stated, his Vanarama North high-fliers were able to head into the game with little fear due to the pressure of being strong favourites standing firmly on Halifax’s shoulders.

But the hosts – as has happened regularly on home soil – emphatically got the job done, albeit with a bit of help from Dean.

The strapping forward, who hit 27 goals when the club lifted the Northern League First Division North title in 2009-10, saw red after crazily elbowing Ainge.

Chorley had it all to do already after going behind four minutes earlier when Peniket netted the rebound after Scott McManus’s long-range shot was spilled by Danijel Nizic.

The Magpies had actually started well with Josh Hine and Adam Mather going close, suggesting they were not merely present to make up the numbers.

Peniket’s opener may have dampened their ardour, but it was Dean’s moment of madness which proved costly in the extreme.

Forced to cede ground, Chorley allowed Halifax to dictate with their only moment of threat arriving when a free-kick from Mather flew under the wall and whistled just wide.

Other than that, it was the Shaymen’s parade with Richard Marshall and Scott Boden going close before the latter effectively killed off Chorley’s crusade with a close-range second just ahead of the break.

Three minutes into the second half, substitute Dyer’s cross was latched onto by Adam Smith, who fired home low past Nikzic with further gloss applied by the winger on 63 minutes.

He twisted and turned past a tiring rearguard before seeing his angled shot fly into the net with Peniket, after hitting the post, adding a fifth goal in stoppage-time.

FC Halifax Town: Glennon; K Roberts, M Roberts, Ainge, McManus; Smith, Pearson (Dyer 45), Maynard, Marshall (Schofield 65); Boden (Jackson 78), Peniket. Unused substitutes: Wilson, Senior, Bolton, Williams.

Chorley: Nizic, Jacobs (Cottrell 28), Mather, Teague, Smythe, Roscoe; Hine (Mulholland 77); Whitham, Roscoe, Winter (Simm 65), Dorney; Dean. Unused substitutes: Almond, Jarvis, Grundy, Lynch.

Referee: R Jones (Wirral).