Notts County manager Luke Williams hailed the performances of Macaulay Langstaff and Cedwyn Scott as they started for the first time together since moving from Gateshead.
The Magpies had their summer recruits to thank for victory after a dull first 40 minutes, with Langstaff opening the scoring after sliding in Sam Austin's cross to the back post.
And on his first start, Scott made it two just before the break, doing well to anticipate Jim O'Brien's deflected cross to nod the ball beyond Sam Johnson in the Halifax net.
Following their first competitive start, Williams was pleased with the pairing - and excited about what could come from his deadly duo.
Discussing Langstaff, Williams said: "We have another game, and he (Langstaff) is so important to us, so that extra bit of rest could make all the difference on Monday to put in another good performance.
"He quite clearly has the most outstanding attribute any player could have, and that is to finish, and be calm around the box, we are so lucky to have him and I am so pleased with his contribution."
It has been a frustrating pre-season for Scott after catching Covid and missing a large number of training sessions with the first team, but Williams was impressed by his full debut after a difficult start to life at Notts.
"Yeah, I am so pleased for him because he has been doing his best to try and get back up to speed and it has been difficult for him.
"He is about there, I think there is more to come and his physical data is quite low compared to the rest of the players, but the big input is assisting and scoring and he has done both today."
The state of the playing surface at The Shay could have been a deciding factor on any other day, with the pitch churning up throughout the game. Notts are lucky they came here in the summer and not the winter.
And Williams explained that the pitch did disrupt the flow of his team, but ultimately did not cost his side.
"I think we want to try and get into our flow, and have the majority of the ball and build our attacks up the pitch, and it was probably the best defender against us was the pitch because it stopped us from passing the ball cleanly and stopped players to move freely."
One notable absentee from the Magpies squad this afternoon was midfielder Ruben Rodrigues, and with the EFL transfer window closing next week, many feared the worst.
However, Williams was on hand to provide an update on the 26-year-old, and is hopeful he will be back for their game at Meadow Lane on Bank Holiday Monday against Solihull Moors.
"I really hope so, we are telling him everything he has to do, when he has to eat, when he has to sleep, and how much fluids he has to take.
"Ruben is so important to us and everyone knows that, it is no secret. Ruben wanted to play, but he still has a problem in his throat so for him to come and play on this surface against a tough opposition, we could end up losing him for longer.
"I took the decision to not bring him, and thankfully we come away from here with the three points, and have Ruben to come back into the team."
