Tahvon Campbell, Jack Stevens and a Tylor Golden own-goal put Halifax 3-0 down inside 39 minutes before goals from Jack Evans and Florent Hoti teased the away fans with a late comeback.
Jamey Osborne killed any of Halifax’s dreams of playing League Two football next season with an 87th-minute dagger, meaning Solihull will now face Barnet in the playoff semi-final.
It’s a familiar feeling for fans of the Shaymen, their team suffered the same fate in the 2021/22 campaign when they finished 4th in the league and crashed out in the same round, losing 2-1 to Chesterfield.
Chris Millington defined the loss as “one game too many” for his side who reached the playoff qualifier after a manic schedule of four games in eight days.
The Tale of the Qualifier
Solihull began the livelier of the two sides and it was them who drew first blood as Halifax goalkeeper Sam Johnson turned a Jack Stevens effort into the path of Tahvon Campbell in the 14th minute. The ex-Halifax loanee converted the rebound, putting the home side 1-0 up.
Town still hadn’t woken up by the 19th minute when Tyrese Shade’s low cross found Jack Stevens at the far post for 2-0.
The Shayman’s luck got even worse as full-back Tylor Golden flicked the ball into his net trying to block a Tahvon Campbell shot on goal, making it 3-0 and a nightmare first half.
Just before half-time, Jack Evans leapt brilliantly to head home for Halifax but at that point, it looked like merely a consolation.
A glimmer of Town hope turned into genuine belief when Florent Hoti came off the bench to score a wondergoal which made it 3-2 with 15 minutes to play.
However Moors’ captain Jamey Osborne stepped up in the 87th minute, weaving in and out of the Halifax defence, then capping a solo run by blasting the ball past Sam Johnson to seal the victory for his side.
“I didn’t see it coming tonight, I was absolutely convinced we were going to progress tonight”
“We’ve had a couple of days rest and all of a sudden it looked like it caught up with us,” explained a devasted Chris Millington post-match in Solihull.
“Credit to Solihull, I thought they were fantastic, especially the way they started very bright they moved the ball very well.
“Even if we’d been at our best tonight, even if we’d have been a hundred mile an hour, full on Halifax Town it would have been a tough ask because they were so good tonight,” said Millington.
“We conceded goals that we’d rather not be conceding but even at half-time, talking to the lads, I said, and I believed in my heart of hearts that we could go on to win the game.”
At 3-2 with 80 minutes on the board, striker Rob Harker crashed a header into the cross from a couple of yards out. Had his attempt been just inches lower, the away side would’ve completed a historic playoff comeback but unfortunately for the Shaymen luck was not on their side.
“We work incredibly hard, the lads give everything and I always feel that we don’t seem to get the rub of the green that their effort and application deserves,” Millington continued.
“I feel, maybe I’m biased, but I feel we’re victims to those more often than we benefit from them. We never expect to get given anything here, we never expect it to be easy, everything has to be earned and we don’t shy away from that.”
In the build-up to the eliminator, a heavy fixture schedule wasn’t the only factor that went against the away side. The Shay Stadium being unplayable thanks to weather conditions meant that Halifax were forced to play two of their last three home fixtures at Accrington Stanley’s Wham Stadium and their penultimate game of the season at Chesterfield’s SMH Group Stadium.
After the “massive missed opportunity” of FC Halifax Town not making it to a final at Wembley, Millington’s men must now regroup after a rollercoaster end to the season and focus their attention on their 2024/25 Vanarama National League campaign.
