Billy Heath has described this afternoonโs defeat to Gloucester City as โone of those daysโ as Halifax dropped out of the playoff places.
Joe Hanksโ second half penalty proved the decisive blow for a Gloucester side now five points behind the Shaymen, who slip to 7thย despite dominating large periods of the game.
โItโs disappointing because we had enough chances in the first half to win two games,โ said the Shaymen boss.
โWe were unlucky again in the second half and you could sense it was going to be one of those days.
โWe manufactured our own downfall in the end. It was a short back-pass and was a penalty. Weโre all disappointed.โ
Chances came frequently for a Halifax side who Heath feels could have gone on to win comfortably if they had found an opening goal.
โIf weโd scored one, I think we could have got one or two more, but it was not to be.
โWe used the wide players a lot, got the ball into Jordan Sinnott a lot of the time, everything looked good and you sensed we were just waiting for that first goal, but it never came.โ
Halifax were reduced to ten men late in the game after Matty Brown injured his hamstring, but Heath credits the way his team rallied to try and level the scores, ultimately disappointed by the result.
โWe had a couple cleared off the line, we put good pressure on them with ten, but at the end of the day itโs about the result.
โWe got some good balls into Tom Denton, Sinnott and Kevin [Roberts] had chances as well; you expect the net to bulge but itโs not quite happening for us at the minute.โ
Another player who had an early chance to score with a header was Fleetwood loanee Dion Charles, who made a 64-minute debut in the defeat after signing yesterday until the end of the season. Heath maintained he was confident of what the forward could do despite him having not yet trained with the squad.
โItโs just one of those things, really โ it was disappointing losing Richard Peniket as he had been playing ever so well, but Dion played well. He picked up the pace of the league.
โDion has good ability in and around the box, an eye for goal, he gets past players and he links things well.
โHeโs a good athlete and can hopefully give us another option.
Asked about the penalty decision, Heath holds no blame against the referee and claims it was just a frustrating and unlucky incident, which summed up the whole match.
โSam [Johnson] has a decision to make there and unfortunately he clips the lad and itโs a penalty. It was harsh not to come away with anything but itโs just one of those days where you donโt get what you deserve.
โWe have to pick ourselves up on Tuesday and try and get the next three points. Weโre fighting for our lives for those playoffs and thereโs still plenty to play for.โ
Heath has kept his cards close to his chest regarding potential transfer dealings in the coming days after admitting he is working with a small squad.
โWeโll see what we can do. Losing Josh [Wilde] and Matty Brown makes a small squad even smaller, so weโll see what happens.โ
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