FC Halifax Town face promotion rivals Chorley in what you could describe as a ‘promotion six-pointer’.
It was back in October 2014 when the Lancashire came to the MBi Shay in the fourth qualifying round replay of the FA Cup, and it turned out to be an unpleasant journey across the Pennines with Chorley going unconvincingly down to a 4-0 defeat, in which was the sixth meeting between the two sides. In the reverse fixture at Victory Park Halifax were held to a 0-0 draw by Chorley but The Shaymen’s home supremacy came out on top in this tie.
Richard Peniket opened the scoring for The Shaymen before striker Scott Boden grabbed a second just before half-time. Chorley forward James Dean, who was making his return to The Shay, was sent off for the away side, and it proved to be vital in the eventual outcome of the cup tie. The game was well and truly killed off in the second period when Adam Smith grabbed himself a brace to set up a romantic first round proper tie against local West Yorkshire rivals Bradford City for Neil Aspin’s side.
The two sides first met eight years ago back in 2008 during Town’s first season since reforming in the Northern Premier League Division One North. The Shaymen came out on top in the inaugural meeting, thanks to goals from Ashley Stott, Paul Gedman and Tony Barras. Later in the season, Halifax was held to a goalless draw at Victory Park, in a season which saw The Shaymen finish eight.
In the following season Halifax again took four points off the Lancashire side. A 3-3 draw at Chorley -the scorers on that day for the Shaymen were James Dean, Mark Peers, and Nick Gray. This was followed by a hard-fought win from a single goal by defender Steve Payne.
During the times that these sides have faced each other Halifax have a 100%-win record at the MBi Shay during the previous meetings. Billy will be hoping that the record stays at that and there are no slip ups in a pivotal game for The Shaymen and Billy.
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