Chorley: Stand Up And Be Counted

FC Halifax Town’s search for a win continued after a late goal gifted Stalybridge Celtic a 1-0 win over the Shaymen at Bower Fold.

Halifax dominated the majority of the game and created the most chances by far until Chris Baguley’s 89^th minute finish meant the three points went to Celtic, meaning Halifax are now 10 competitive games without a win, their last league victory coming nearly two months ago against Kidderminster on November 12^th.

Billy Heath was unsurprisingly disappointed after the game and believed the game seemed to be against them for the whole 90 minutes…

“We dominated for probably 80% of the game. There were some big key moments in the game – when you’re struggling a bit, it sometimes happens. We had the penalty opportunity and didn’t take it and obviously we had Kosylo who hit it off the post. That’s three games that we’ve had where things could have been so different. The referee deems Danny Hone as a sending off and I think that’s questionable to say the least. But just so disappointed because we’ve had 80% of the game and I think we’ve had about 18 shots on target as well, but once again we come away with nothing.”

With 3^rd placed Chorley upcoming, another tough game awaits the Shaymen, who are now eight points off the playoffs with two games still in hand…

“I think we’ve got to turn chances into goals but I think equally, you’ve got to make sure we keep clean sheets. If you don’t win clean sheets you don’t win anything. The first part is to keep clean sheets and we haven’t had enough clean sheets. We haven’t had enough stability in the back four.”

Chorley have only seen themselves on the wrong side of a scoreline three times so far this season, and also have the tightest defence in the league, conceding only 18 goals in the 24 games they’ve played. Understandably, Chorley will be a tough opponent at the Shay on Tuesday night…

“I’m expecting a tough game because I believe they’ve won again today. It’ll be tough because they’re playing well and winning games. They’re very physical, very strong and it will certainly be a tough game. We’ve got to stand up now and be counted, and roll our sleeves up, there are no hiding places. There’s no point in hiding, we’ve got to just work hard and make sure we get results.”

FC Halifax Town play Chorley at the MBi Shay Stadium on Tuesday at 7:45pm