FC Halifax Town goalkeeper Matt Glennon celebrated his 100th Shaymen appearance by helping his side defeat Grimsby Town 1-0 at Blundell Park, and climb up to 3rd in the Skrill Premier table.
The victories have been coming thick and fast over recent weeks, so much so that Glennon barely had time to register his personal milestone ahead of Tuesday night’s clash. However it is a landmark the stopper reflects on with great satisfaction: “Yes and it’s been thoroughly enjoyable as well. I’ve enjoyed all my time here and I only found out today it was my 100th game as well so to get a clean sheet and a win was great.”
During his time at the club Glennon has enjoyed some considerable highs, but he concedes the irresistible form that The Shaymen are currently on is certainly one of his favourite spells as Town’s number one: “Yeah it is definitely, the back end of last season when we had to play all those games in a very short space of time was tough, but we won a lot of games then and there’s no reason we can’t do it again because we’re getting very close now.”
As Glennon says there is very little reason to suggest that FC Halifax Town will be halted in their charge into the play-off places, and that is largely down to the imperious defensive form that has seen the 35-year-old only concede once in his last nine matches in a run that includes seven consecutive clean sheets. He reveals there is no secret behind this fantastic form, stating that determination and a solid defence are the key ingredients: “It’s down to 25 years of dedication and working hard every week! Obviously I’ve got a very good back four in front of me and I’m in a good vein of form making saves, but when I’ve not been there to make the saves the lads have been there to help me out as well.”
Just as there is a reason for the repeated shut-outs Town are enjoying, there is also method to the startling change in fortunes on the road and indeed the lean defence that has formed in front of Glennon: “I think it’s the consistency in the team, we’ve had a very settled back four for a very long time. Obviously the last two games it’s changed a little bit but we have had a consistent back four now for 12 or 13 games and that has definitely helped.”
The victory in Lincolnshire brought about Town’s third away success in eleven matches, and their fifth consecutive win on the road. The performance against Barnet on Saturday was arguably the best of the season thus far and was just as emphatic the scoreline suggested, but Glennon agrees that Tuesday night’s work against serious play-off rivals Grimsby Town represented the perfect away performance: “Definitely because we limited to them to not many shots, I think they only had one in the first half. We’ve defended excellently and hit them on the break, we take our three points and off we go.”
The three matches at Nuneaton, Barnet and Grimsby were always going to be defining in FC Halifax Town’s play-off aspirations, so to claim all nine points available is an incredible return. However Glennon says that the squad believed in themselves and as a result they are not surprised that the three fixtures ended in victory: “The way we’ve been playing we knew if we turned the way we were playing at home into away games then there was no reason we couldn’t go on this sort of run, and luckily it’s clicked at the right time and we’ve won the games.”
There is a visible confidence and swagger about the team these days, and justifiably so as any air of invincibility there might be is being translated onto the pitch. The dressing room is a great place to be at the moment with everyone in well-deserved good spirits: “It’s brilliant, we’re all enjoying it as we have been for quite a number of weeks now, we’re enjoying the ride.”
The Shaymen do not fear anyone at the moment, and could mathematically confirm their place in the play-offs on Saturday with a win against Macclesfield Town, should other results also go their way. After that a trip to Southport and an encounter with fellow play-of hopefuls Kidderminster await, and Glennon admits the confidence is flowing amongst the squad: “Yeah definitely, we’re going to try and take Macclesfield to cleaners Saturday and finish it off then.”
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