After FC Halifax Town’s 0-0 draw against Pontefract Collieries in the FA Cup, manager Pete Wild spoke to Shaymen TV to give his thoughts.
“I thought both teams had some good chances,” Wild said. “We had a lot of the ball, as we expected, and they sat in their low block and asked us to come and break them down. We opened them up a few times, but we haven’t been able to put the ball in the back of net. Some days are like that. They have fought for their lives, and we have to give them immense credit for what they have done here today. Their manager should be very proud of their efforts as they have worked their socks off today. They also put us under pressure at times, but we withstood that. So, on the balance of play it was pretty even but we just couldn’t get over the line. We go to Tuesday now and we’ll be on a pitch that suits our style of play better. That isn’t an excuse though, but hopefully the pitch will help us play how we want to play.”
The Shaymen had the ball in the back of the net three times during the game, however each time it was pulled back for offside.
“They can’t all be offside, can they?” Wild questioned. “But that’s what you get when you have to endure officials from lower leagues. I didn’t think they were great for either side today. I don’t believe they have helped the football match really. I really didn’t think all of them were offside.”
Town created more chances as the game went on with most of the football being played inside the Pontefract half for the majority of the second half.
“We’ve camped in their half for the second half,” Wild said. “Fair credit to them, they have put bodies on the line. They wanted to live and die for their team, and you have to give them immense credit for that because they defended well.”
Town will face Pontefract again on Tuesday in the replay with the winner progressing into the first round proper.
“We will prepare like we do for any league game,” Wild told Shaymen TV. “Hopefully, we will get the job on Tuesday. I will have a look at the team and assessing how it has gone today, did the subs help us, did they change the game. We want to reward the lads who have done well with keeping the shirts, but we also need to look at what the individual match need so we will be focussing on that.”
Watch the full interview on Shaymen TV.
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