Saturday the 24th of November will see FC Halifax Town make a 438 mile round trip to Stonebridge Road in order to face Ebbsfleet United in a return to Vanarama National League action.
With that in mind, we decided to take a look at two of the previous games played between The Shaymen and The Fleet as a refresher of what happened in last season’s games.
30/9/17 – Ebbsfleet United 2-0 FC Halifax Town
This late September fixture was the first time that Town had faced their Kent based opponents since reforming in 2008. Then manager Billy Heath took his side to Stonebridge Road on the back of a 2-1 home win against Bromley, leaving confidence amongst the players high going into their away fixture.
On the other hand, Ebbsfleet came into this game in similarly good form, having only recorded one defeat all season going into the game against The Shaymen. Their previous fixture saw the side win 1-0 away at Boreham Wood.
The first half of the game proved to be fairly even, with Matty Kosylo’s effort in the 24th minute which the post was the closest either side came to taking the lead.
Ebbsfleet’s decision to introduce Sean Shields off of the bench proved to be the game changing factor however, as the partnership between him and Darren McQueen proved to be too much for Town to deal with. The two players first proved to be lethal together just two minutes into the second half, as McQueen’s ball allowed for Shields to cut inside of the Halifax area from the left flank; from there he managed to curl his shot into the corner of the net.
Not content with just the one goal, Shields struck again in the 71st minute, once again assisted by
McQueen. The goal came in an almost identical fashion to the first – McQueen’s ball sliced the Halifax defence wide open, only this time Shields cut inside from the right hand side as opposed to the left. Despite being on the opposite flank, Shields was able to fire his shot past Shaymen goalkeeper Sam Johnson in order to secure all three points for his side.
17/2/18 – FC Halifax Town 1-2 Ebbsfleet United
The second fixture played between The Shaymen and The Fleet last season saw Halifax come into the game on the back of a positive 1-1 draw away at Wrexham, whilst Ebbsfleet had previously beaten Solihull Moors 1-0 at home.
Matty Kosylo’s 37th minute penalty after he was brought down inside of Ebbsfleet’s box was enough to give Halifax, who at the time were under the stewardship of caretaker manager Neil Young, the lead going into the break.
Once again though, it was the decision by Ebbsfleet to make a change at half time that completely turned the tie around, as new signing Corey Whitely was brought on to rescue the game for the visitors. Just ten minutes after the second half had begun, the substitute was able to make an instant impact on his debut. Danny Kedwell’s initial effort was saved by Sam Johnson, but Whitely was there to pounce on the rebound for his side’s equaliser.
Five minutes later, and Ebbsfleet were able to get the ball in the back of Town’s next once again to take the lead. Former Manchester City youngster Luke Coulson was able to find space inside the box, allowing him to head the ball home to ensure that the side from Kent would be taking all three points home from The Shay.
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