Shaymen Defender Kevin Roberts says that Town will be hoping to carry their cup momentum into the league fixtures as a trip to Curzon Ashton is next up for the Shaymen.
An emphatic 2-1 win over Dagenham and Redbridge last time out made history as Town were rewarded a place in the second round of the Emirates FA Cup for the first time under the new club format. Although, Roberts says that no two games are the same, with a different challenge expected in the next fixture.
“They have started to pick up some points recently but we know that any game in this league is tough. We know ourselves when we played Brackley at home the other week and got beat 3-1 so anything could happen”
“We will go over there with the same mind-set that we always do and give them the respect they deserve but, at the same time, go for the three points”
“Scoring a 90th minute winner is a great feeling so we need to try and take that confidence and put it into Saturday’s game to get the three points at Curzon”
The cup replay against Dagenham showed that the difference in leagues did not matter as Town enjoyed large spells of possession and pressure in the opening 30 minutes. However, the dismissal of Dagenham’s Oliver Hawkins seemed to unsettle the Shaymen.
It was after this when the visitors equalised through Corey Whitely and gave Dagenham their best spell of the game, something that Roberts believes has not just been a one-off occurrence.
“I thought we were the better side to be honest, especially in the first half. Even up until they had a man sent off we were the better side so you think it would be easier once they had a man sent off but that wasn’t the case”
“It was similar to when we played Kidderminster, we were comfortable in the game and then they went down to ten men and we seemed to struggle a bit”
“Obviously when we played them in the first game we knew they were a good team and that they were doing well in the league above. Most of our lads have played at that level anyway so we knew what to expect”
After Tom Denton’s opener in the first half, Matty Kosylo continued his recent upturn in form as it was his 90th minute equaliser from 25 yards out that sent the MBi Shay Stadium into euphoria. It is a stark contrast to his time out through injury as of late which Roberts believes will give Kosylo something to smile about.
“I think that would have given him a big confidence boost because when you come back from injury sometimes you do not feel the same but when he is scoring the winners in the last minute it will be giving him a big confidence boost. Hopefully that will let him forget about the actual injury”
As greater team performances are shown every game, the Shaymen are showing their intent to push even further up the National League North as the months go on, an aspect that Roberts believes has come from getting to know a revamped Halifax side since Billy Heath’s appointment.
“People seem to forget that there was a whole new team put in so we were always going to take time to gel and we thought that by after Christmas we would be at our best”
“A lot of teams like Fylde and Harrogate have only added a few players to their squad from what they had last season so we were always going to take a bit longer to click and, I have to admit, we are already starting to do that, but I still think we have got a long way to go.”
Read more posts by Kelly Gilchrist
;
