FC Halifax Town were defeated 2-0 by Tamworth at the Lamb Ground on Saturday to put an end to an impressive string of results over the Christmas period. The Shaymen could not reply to goals in each half from Lloyd Kerry and Andy Todd which sealed the three points for The Lambs.
Midfielder Jon Worthington replaced Paul Marshall at half time as Town chased a 1-0 deficit and he admits to the team’s deflation at coming away empty handed from the game: “It was very disappointing, we’ve been on a decent run over Christmas so it’s disappointing to end that today with what was a bit of a flat performance to be honest.”
After picking up 11 points from 5 matches previously over the gruelling Christmas period the team were battling through any fatigue they may have suffered, but Worthington doesn’t want that to be used as an excuse for the performance: “Yeah you could possibly say that given that Tamworth didn’t play midweek like we have and we’ve had a tough set of games against full-time opposition, but I wouldn’t say it was legs out there I just think we were disappointing today.”
The former Huddersfield man concedes it was a tough game against a side desperate for a victory after a sustained period of poor form themselves: “They’re obviously fighting for their lives and today they got the goal in the first half and we found it difficult, especially back up the hill second half, to get back at them.”
The match survived the torrid pre-game weather conditions around Staffordshire to avoid any postponement, but the torrential rain before kick-off had an effect on a very soft and cut up pitch at The Lamb Ground. Passing the ball around brightly was always going to be difficult, but Worthington refuses to blame the state of the pitch for the result: “It’s one of them the state of the pitch, but it’s the same for both teams so we don’t really want to make excuses on that. We just have to hold our hands up today and say we were disappointing today compared to how we have been playing and they deserved the win today.”
The defeat marked the first game after the departure of playmaker Dan Gardner to Chesterfield, which saw Reece Gray take his place in the starting eleven. After a successful spell at The Shay Gardner became a fan’s favourite and the 30-year-old admits he will be missed, but believes the squad is more than capable of coping in his absence: “I’m really pleased for Dan, he’s a top lad and he’s got tremendous ability and he deserves that chance to have a crack in the league and I wish him all the best. I think we’ve got a good enough squad and the Manager is experienced and he’s brought in good quality players before and maybe he might just look to add to the squad just to bolster the numbers. Dan is a loss but there are other players in and around who can come in and fill in I’m sure.”
Town head back to The Shay Tuesday night as they host a Salisbury City side who inflicted a 3-1 defeat on The Shaymen back in August. For Worthington it represents the perfect chance to bounce back from the day’s disappointment: “We’ll be looking to bounce back but Salisbury are another team that are new to this league but have done really well and they’re a strong physical side so it’s not going to be easy. If we can get back to The Shay where we’ve played some good stuff we’ll be looking to get out there and get on the front foot and really get after them to put this game to the back of our minds.”
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