Aldershot Town picked up an impressive three points at the Shay Stadium as Josh Barrett’s early goal gave them a 1-0 win over FC Halifax Town.
The Shots started with a bang as Barrett opened the scoring in the third minute.
Theo Widdrington smartly played the ball to Barrett with a backheel flick and the Shots number ten opened up his body and curled it into the bottom corner from the edge of the box with a sumptuous finish.
Ryan Jones was enjoying venturing forward down the left and linked up well with Barrett with a neat one-two before seeing a cross blocked.
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Widdrington saw an effort from outside the area bounce past the post in the 21st minute. That turned out to be the last chance for a good chunk of time as the game turned into a midfield battle. Halifax were struggling to keep possession as Aldershot were happy to patiently move the ball around and hold onto their lead.
The hosts burst into life in the 40th minute, though, as they looked to get back on level terms for half-time and Angelo Cappello saw his powerful half-volley fly just over the bar.
And they perhaps should have drawn level just before the break as Andrew Oluwabori should have done a lot better than head wide from close range.
Halifax started the second half brightly and it took a superb challenge from Cameron Hargreaves to block a shot from Jamie Cooke. Cooke then hit an effort from outside the box narrowly wide.
The home side couldn’t test Marcus Dewhurst, however, as their momentum began to run out and although Aldershot were also struggling to create chances, they were happy to take the sting out of the game and remained confident in possession.
As Halifax pushed for a late equaliser, the Shots attack, refreshed by the introductions of James Henry and Jack Barham, were able to exploit some more space in the Halifax half.
Henry had a golden opportunity to double Aldershot’s lead, but his header was straight into the arms of Sam Johnson as the game went into added time.
