Tuesday night ended in dismay for FC Halifax Town as they were defeated 3-2 by Gainsborough Trinity at The Northolme.
Eleven games into the season and the result sees the Shaymen currently sat in 10th in the league, four points off those all-important play-off spots.
With the FA Cup clash with Ashton Athletic approaching, we spoke to Richard Peniket on what needed to be done to avoid a shock cup upset…
“I think first of all we’ve got to defend as a team better. We’re leaking too many goals at the moment. I think also, going there, they’re going to be bang up for it.
We need to match that and be as up for it as them. We’ve also got to play better as a team, so I think them three things we’ve got to do better.”
It may be a cup fixture, however Peniket expects the squad to go into the game with the same mentality as they would with a league game…
“It’s going to be a difficult ground to go to; the pitch and the conditions might favour them. But, we’ve got to be up for it, it’s the FA Cup. We know what sorts of rewards that brings, so we’ve got to treat it like we would any other game, and be bang up for it, go there and try get through to the next round.”
Ashton Athletic, current members of the North West Counties League Premier Division may seem like minnows; however, we all know that the FA Cup can spring a surprise. Richard takes this into account…
“They’ll see it as one of their biggest games of the season having us come there. It is their cup final and I’m sure they’ll have some good players there as well. It’s going to be tough for us, and especially after a defeat, we’ve got to be right on our guard and make sure we come away with a win”
The start of Halifax’s FA Cup campaign won’t come as a distraction to the league, but will provide the players some time to regroup and focus before they return to league duties against Bradford Park Avenue on the 24th September…
“It’ll be nice to have a breather from the league. It was disappointing Tuesday, it would have been nice to put that right in respects of getting the three points, but we can do that with a win on Saturday. Hopefully, that will bring confidence if we can get a win and get into the next round. That will bring confidence to the league.”
Richard also reveals that he can’t wait to get the Shaymen’s FA Cup journey underway…
“It’s always a great competition. I remember a few seasons ago, we played Bradford and there were 8,000 at the Shay and that was great experience for me, personally. It would be nice to go as far as possible in the competition and get some good draws.”
Ashton Athletic’s ground, Brocstedes Park, with a capacity of only 600, sits secluded amongst empty fields not far from the roar and commotion of the M6.
This uniqueness comes as a standard of the FA Cup preliminary rounds, but it won’t affect Richard and his teammates when heading to the game…
“It all comes with the occasion, it’s something different. We’ve played at places like that before, and we’ve gone to places like that this season, so I can’t see it being a problem really. We just need to be up for the game and on our guard and really get some wins under our belt because we’ve had too many losses”
FC Halifax Town face Ashton Athletic in the FA Cup Second Qualifying Round this Saturday at 3pm.
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