Match Report - Yeovil Town v Halifax Town

Yeovil Town claimed a superb 2-0 victory over Halifax Town at Huish Park this afternoon despite playing with only ten men for 80 minutes of the match. A brace from Courtney Duffus was enough to see off Halifax Town 2-0 for the second time this season - with the first match at The Shay back in September also seeing a 2-0 win for Yeovil.

Yeovil and Halifax were level on points going into this match and many supporters had mixed feelings about how they thought the game would go. Yeovil received a some good news before the game in that experienced defender Carl Dickinson was back from his injury as well as the club signing two new defenders from Football League clubs.

The game started off with Halifax looking the more creative of the two sides but no chances worth noting were being carved out. 7 minutes into the game Halifax Town's Jeff King went down and the referee gave a free kick to Halifax. While game was briefly stopped the referee then brandished the red card to Gold Omotayo - much to the surprise of the Huish Park faithful. Nobody was entirely sure why he had been sent off at the time but we soon found out it was for an alleged stamp on Jeff King.

From the resulting free kick the travelling Halifax fans thought their side had taken the lead as Tobi Sho-Silva found the back of the net but it was ruled out for offside.

After this brief scare Yeovil suddenly burst into life and were beginning to enjoy more possession and were starting to put pressure on the Halifax goal. Courtney Duffus had a wonderful chance to put Yeovil ahead on 15 minutes as some great play by Myles Hippolyte allowed him to find Duffus un-marked in the box but his shot was skewed well past the post.

As the half wore-on Yeovil were getting better and better and got their reward on 34 minutes. A cross to the back post found Courtney Duffus who headed it home from close range to give Yeovil a fully deserved 1-0 advantage.

Just 4 minutes later it was almost 2-0 as Chris Dagnall managed to break through the Halifax defence but his shot was wide.

Half Time Yeovil Town 1-0 Halifax Town

The second half started fairly flat but as to be expected Halifax were beginning to take control of the game as their 1 man advantage was beginning to show. Despite having more of the ball they weren't creating any clear-cut opportunities as the Yeovil defence were doing a superb job to stop any Halifax attack.

Halifax were beginning to get frustrated with this game and this was clear to see both on and off the pitch as they were beginning to give away more fouls and their coaching staff weren't very happy with some of the decisions of the referee. This would eventually see one of them get yellow carded as tempers flared between both benches.

With only a one-goal advantage it was a nervy finish to the game as Yeovil were doing everything they could to preserved the three points. 4 minutes of additional time was given and the home fans were hoping we could keep Halifax at bay and claim a superb victory.

3 minutes into the additional time Huish Park erupted as the points were well and truly sealed. Courntey Duffus beat the offside trap to run through on goal and calmly slot the ball past Sam Johnson to give Yeovil a 2 goal advantage and any doubts that Yeovil wouldn't go on to win were put to rest.

Full Time Yeovil Town 2-0 Halifax Town

This was a solid, well drilled performance from Yeovil and they fully deserved the victory. Despite having a man advantage Halifax were un-able to press forward with any intent throughout the match but credit must go the Yeovil defence as they threw their bodies in front of every shot that Halifax managed to muster and defended brilliantly.

The result sees us move up into third place with 41 points, three points behind Bromley and six points behind leaders Barrow who both won today. Our next game sees us travel to Chesterfield on Tuesday with an opportunity to move into second place should we take all three points.

Man of the match voting for this victory over Halifax is now open. You can cast your vote here.

Match Attendance - 2,975 (71 from Halifax Town)

Yeovil Town

1 - Stuart Nelson, 3 - Carl Dickinson, 8 - Lawson D'Ath, 10 - Gold Omotayo (dismissed on 9 minutes), 11 - Myles Hippolyte, 14 - Courtney Duffus (replaced by 7 - Matt Worthington on 94 minutes), 18 - Albi Skendi, 26 - Charlie Lee, 29 - Morgan Williams, 30 - Gabriel Osho, 33 - Chris Dagnall

Substitutes

7 - Matt Worthington, 16 - Gabriel Rogers, 17 - Daniel Ojo, 28 - James Tilley

Halifax Town

1 - Sam Johnson, 2 - Michael Duckworth, 5 - Matty Brown, 6 - Liam Nolan (replaced by 40 - Shawn McCoulsky on 84 minutes), 7 - Jamie Allen, 11 - Tobi Sho-Silva, 14 - Josh Staunton, 15 - Liam McAlinden (replaced by 26 - Jack Redshaw on 72 minutes), 16 - Jacob Hanson, 20 - Jeff King (replaced by 21 - Danny Williams on 58 minutes), 22 - Charlie Cooper

Substitues

10 - Cameron King, 12 - Will Appleyard, 21 - Danny Williams, 23 - Jack Redshaw, 40 - Shawn McCoulsky