FC Halifax Town5-0Ossett Albion
By Tom Snee at The Shay
Tuesday 2nd March, 2010
FC Halifax Town gave Ossett Albion a lesson in football at the Shay this evening, with Nick Gray bagging his first hat-trick for the club.
After a tepid opening ten minutes, the game was brought to life by a superb move which gave the Shaymen the lead.After some superb control from James Dean, Nick Gray ran at a seam the Ossett defence before an excellent controlled finish from the edge of the area.
Town continued to have the best of the first half, with Dean and Harry Winter having stinging shots blocked by Ben Saynor, and it wasn't long before the Shaymen doubled their lead.Tom Baker swung in the cross following a short corner, and Gray out jumped team mate Ryan Crossley to grab his second of the night.
Albion could have been forgiven for folding with the score at 2-0, but the Shaymen's West Yorkshire rivals seemed intent on not letting that happen.Joe Thornton and Shane Kelsey both were keen to try shots from distance, but Jonathan Hedge was in position to pull off two fine fingertip saves.
As is the norm with clashes between these two clubs, the challenges began to fly in from both sides, but Mr. Newman officiating did a fantastic job of keeping his hands out of his pockets and the game in hand.
With the game entering first half injury time, the visitors had their best chance through former Town youngster Gareth Hamlet, but Hedge was once again equal to the one-on-one, producing a fine save to keep the lead at two goals for half time.
After the break the Shaymen continued their impressive start, and on 52 minutes Gray became a hat-trick hero.Aaron Hardy produced a fantastic first time cross from the right, and Gray obliged with a sweet header to join Dean and Richard Marshall in this season's hat-trick club.
The third goal all but ended the game as a contest, and Town took the opportunity to play some delightful football, with excellent interplay within the front line of Gray, Dean and substitute Richard Marshall.
At times it was close to Total Football as the Shaymen knocked the ball about with ease on a tough surface, and the fourth goal illustrated the widening gap between the two teams.
Scott Phelan's run and James Dean's slow and deliberate build-up combined with a brilliant overhead set-up from Marshall, leaving Harry Winter with the simplest of finishes to extend Town's lead.
Winter is in sublime form at the minute, and notched his second and his side's fifth with fifteen minutes remaining.After a Dean cross was blocked, the ball spun to the midfielder who powerfully struck the ball past the hapless Saynor from 12 yards out.
Hamlet was ploughing a lone furrow up front for the visitors, but Jonathan Hedge showed why he is regarded as one of non-league football's best goalkeepers, consistently producing saves of the highest quality.
The final scoreline reflected the Shaymen's dominance throughout, and went a long way to banishing the bad memories from Saturday's heartbreaking defeat at Radcliffe Borough, and Neil Aspin will be keen for a repeat performance this coming weekend against Prescot Cables.
