FC Halifax Town will be looking to make it 2 victories on the bounce on Tuesday when Sutton United visit the MBi Shay Stadium.
The game will go ahead after the original fixture on March 3rd was cancelled due to the heavy snow.
The Shaymen responded well to their Good Friday defeat to AFC Fylde by defeating promotion chasing Boreham Wood 2-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Sutton come into this encounter on the back of being beaten by The Coasters themselves despite taking the lead early on.
The loss was another blow to The U’s own promotion push as they fell for the 3rd time in their previous 4 games.
Prior to their current run, Paul Doswell’s men were in fine form having been undefeated throughout 2018 with 7 wins and 3 draws.
This saw them move up the 2nd position where they have stayed since, however, the last few weeks has allowed Macclesfield Town to open a 10-point gap on them.
To compound this, Aldershot Town, Tranmere Rovers, Boreham Wood and Wrexham are all poised to overtake Sutton should they fail to pick up any points at the MBi Shay Stadium.
For the home side, while Saturday’s win all but confirmed Halifax’s safety thanks to the 9-point gap between them and the drop zone. While, it is still not mathematically guaranteed, current form suggests they will be playing Vanarama National League football next year.
3 wins and 3 draws within The Shaymen’s last 7 outings has seen them rack up 12 points from a possible 21, with the loss at Mill Farm, the only one under Jamie Fullarton, ending a 6-game unbeaten run.
The run has resulted in The Shaymen sitting in 15th position, with the opportunity to go up to 14th should outcomes on Tuesday night go their way.
It is unclear whether they will be with or without star man Matt Kosylo after the winger picked up a knock a few weeks ago. The absence of the 8-goal man will be a blow, but they were still able to win at the weekend without him.
Instead, they will look to Mike Fondop-Talom up top to produce another stellar performance like he did against Boreham Wood. The on-loan Guiseley man was a nuisance throughout and capped it off by grabbing the winner with a lovely chipped finish, his 2nd in a Halifax shirt.
Matty Brown, who headed in the opener against The Wood, and the rest of the defence will have their work cut out when they deal with the visitor’s top goal scorer Tommy Wright with the centre forward having netted on 12 occasions this campaign.
Until Saturday, the striker hadn’t scored since January, when he was on a run of 4 in 4 matches, and Paul Doswell will be hoping the goal against Fylde will see Wright go on a similar run as they try to hang onto the runners-up spot.
The previous encounter between these two ended in a 3-2 win for Sutton at Gander Green Lane as the home side just about hung on.
Goals from Ross Lafayette and Craig Dundas either side of half time gave The U’s a 2-0 lead before Tom Denton halves the deficit.
The now-Maidstone United striker Lafayette gave Sutton a two-goal cushion once again.
Halifax skipper Brown would go on to miss a penalty, shortly before his centre back partner Scott Garner would pull on back in a nervy ending to the first ever meeting between the two.
The loss saw then-Billy Heath’s men endure an 8th games without a win in a run which would drag on to 11.
Match Officials:
Referee: Joe Hull
Assistants: Iain Turner/Kristian Silcock
Fourth Official: Michael Herzog
Follow the Game:
There will be live updates and commentary available on the club website and Shaymen TV.
You can also follow the action via Town’s official Twitter account, @FCHTOnline.
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