Following a well-earned victory against Gainsborough Trinity at the MBi Shay Stadium, FC Halifax Town boss Billy Heath understands that his side earned themselves three massive points as the race for the play-off’s heats up.
An own goal from Chris Salt and a return to the scoresheet for Adam Morgan ensured that The Shaymen are back into the top five with other results also going in Town’s favour.
Despite an early setback after Nathan Hotte’s mistake gifted Gainsborough the goal, Heath believes that he was always confident of getting the result in the end.
“I thought it was going to follow in the suit of Saturday because for the first 25-30 minutes we were fantastic. (When their goal came) it was their first attack but for 25 minutes we played some good stuff and had some good opportunities…
“The main thing is, Gainsborough are fighting for their lives so we knew what was going to come in the second half. They tried to break it down, they tried to stop and start the game and there is no problem with that because they are obviously fighting for their lives.
“We said if we got the goal we were confident that we could get a winner and probably go on. It was just getting that first goal. We did some decent football at times but it was just broken up, there is no problem with that.
“It is difficult to play against sometimes when it is getting broken up but you have to deal with that. The main thing now is about results. This season will probably go down to the last game for a lot of teams… so it is a good three points tonight”.
Going a goal down in the first half was not ideal for both the players and fans alike, and it was made worse after Matty Kosylo was forced off due to a pulled hamstring. Morgan was the replacement, and made himself somewhat of a super sub as he fired home the winner late on.
After praising the likes of Dion Charles and Danny Clarke for their stand-out performances, Heath also piled on the praise for Morgan’s impact on the game.
“I am pleased that Morgan had an impact when he came on because he looked sharper and brighter. He got into little pockets but he also played on the shoulder like we said he has got to do because he cannot just play as a number ten”.
With eight games left until the end of the season, every fixture becomes ever-so important. For Heath, self-belief and desire will help carry the Shaymen to the play-off spots.
“This is now the business end of the season. You will not see any scores with people getting three or four (goals) because it is pressure time of the season. Everybody knows what is at stake now.
“The team that gets a play-off spot will not be the team that plays the best football until the end of the season it will be the team that has the biggest desire and the will to get into the play-offs”.
The result against Gainsborough is another positive step in the right direction, but the goal tally could have been a lot more. In the case of the payers, Heath believes that they could ease the pressure if his side can take more of their chances in the future.
“… The players are frustrated because we do not get the goals we deserve at the minute. Without being disrespectful to Gainsborough, if we finished the game with five you could not have argued it. We had decent chances but they were not in the back of the net.
“Once we start doing that then it will take a lot of pressure off us… The players know what is at stake, the ones who have got the stomach for it will get the play-offs”.
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