Despite suffering their first loss in eleven games at the hands of Southport midweek, FC Halifax Town have still all but secured themselves a precious playoff spot, courtesy of Barnet holding playoff contenders Braintree to a draw.
It remains mathematically possible for Town to slip to sixth but that would require a huge home loss and a whopping Braintree result. However, fan-favourite Matty Pearson believes that the team can’t get complacent until the job is done: “A game is a game and we are still going to go out and look for the win.
“It is still not mathematically done so it is still in our hands so we need to get a result and get Saturday over with to get ourselves properly in the playoffs and it’s one of them, we just need to play well and keep that momentum going.”
Midfielder Pearson has cemented himself as a true Halifax favourite with his gritty, determined performances and then never say die attitude he oozes on the pitch is more than apparent in his approach to the possible playoff opponents: “As a team we don’t fear anyone really, whoever we get, we’ll give it our best shot.
“I’m just happy to be there and when we do get it finally secured this week, we’ll find out who we’ll be playing but I’ll be happy to play anyone.”
Manager Neil Aspin has done tremendously well all season and having easily surpassed his 50 point target, he took an ‘enjoy yourselves’ approach, and according to Pearson, that has been a huge factor in the season long success of the Shaymen: “As soon as we knew we were safe and we got our 50 points it was basically a case of just enjoy yourselves.
“The more it’s a case of enjoying your football, the better football you play so he (Neil Aspin) has been great in terms of motivating us. Every time you look at the table it motivates us though because obviously we can see how well we have been doing and that’s proven in the league table.”
Halifax have become renowned for their often glitzy home displays and that home form has also played a huge part in the team’s success: “It’s a great achievement, you only have to look at the other team that came up with us last season and see where they are in the league to see how well we’ve done as a part time team.
“Hopefully we will finish as the highest part time team and it’s a great achievement for all the lads and I just think it shows, especially with our home performances, that we are a really good team and a tough place to come.
“I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted this finish to be honest, as far as the season goes I think we realised we belonged in this league and that helped when we beat Grimsby and Wrexham early on which boosted our confidence and those sorts of games make you play better and give you a belief that you can do well in this league.”
The Skrill Conference Premier Playoffs are a huge achievement for any team, let alone a part-time football club so Saturday will no doubt mark an unbelievable season for the boys in blue: “It’s massive for everyone, but mainly the club.
“It’s a chance to finally get in the leagues and for the club and for the players it’s a great achievement and I just hope it goes how we want it to go and we can hopefully get to go to Wembley but there’s always other clubs in the way. Hopefully we can get the results and in two months’ time we can be getting ready for pre-season in league two!”
If you can’t make it down to the Shay to cheer on the mighty FC Halifax Town on the final day of the season (hopefully not for us) then do not worry, the media team, as always has you covered. With live updates via Twitter and the Shaymen Wall, and live match commentary, exclusive match interviews and extended post match highlights on Shaymen Player. FC Halifax Town Vs. Kidderminster, The Shay, 17:30pm kick-off.
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