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Vanarama/FA Cup Game Previews

Posted by Kelly Gilchrist
Posted on Fri 2 Dec 2016
Posted in First Team

FC Halifax Town are set for an historic clash against Vanarama National League side Eastleigh in the FA Cup Second Round. This is already the farthest that The Shaymen have been in this competition and the prospect of going even further is a mouth-watering one for everyone affiliated with the club.

Unfortunately for Billy Heathโ€™s men the situation going into the game does not look to be the most promising. Having already been knocked out of two cup competitions this week thanks to an FA Trophy knock out at the hands of Matlock Town, partnered with a shock loss in the West Riding County Cup against AFC Silsden. Halifax fans and players alike need to hope that their underdog status going into the game against Eastleigh could help them overcome the odds just as it did against Dagenham and Redbridge.

Halifax are not the only Vanarama National League North side that will be hopefully heading into an FA Cup clash, in fact the league has two other representatives.

Fans of Brackley Town have been treat to an exciting albeit long away trip to Blackpool. At the time of writing there are 48 league places between the two sides with Blackpool sitting in a comfortable 7th place in the Football League 2, inside the play-offs.

Brackley will obviously be going into this as massive underdogs going into this tie and will need to stop Kyle Vassell if they are to hope to get through. The striker has scored nine so far in the league and will be the teams focal point of attack for the season.

However The Saints will have a trick up their sleeve as their very own James Armson is the top scorer in the FA Cup so far this season having struck four times already. If the keep continuing their good form and feeding Armson as much as possible, Brackley could cause an upset in the trophy that is most famous for it.

The other side in the league who have a clash in this stage of the competition is Curzon Ashton. The side that recently bested Halifax 4-2 at their own ground will be taking on Football League 1 side AFC Wimbledon at home.

Itโ€™s a tie that has giant killing written all over it with Curzon sitting in the bottom half of the Vanarama National League North and facing a side who are pushing for a play-off spot 3 leagues above them.

They needed a replay to get past Westfields who were the lowest ranked team in the tournament at the time but can take heed from their striker Adam Morgan. Halifax fans will know him all too familiarly after he struck in the aforementioned 4-2 defeat. However it is the former Liverpool playerโ€™s strike record in the FA Cup that is most impressive. Having struck three times already in the competition with limited playing time, Morgan has the incredible strike record of a goal every 37 minutes of FA Cup football this season.

Just like Brackley, if Curzon can give opportunities to Morgan, a giant killing may well be on the cards.

Read more posts by Kelly Gilchrist

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