FC Halifax 4-0 Aldershot Town
The Shay
16/11/13
Att: 1,418 with 140
Prior to the day of this game I was quite looking forward to it, although I knew a victory was unlikely. Any supporter of a Conference team will know that Halifax have one of, if not the, best home records in the league. Currently unbeaten if I am not mistaken. Aldershot, however, aren't in a very good run of form. On Tuesday night we got destroyed by unbeaten, at home, league leaders Cambridge 4-0. However the 'football blindness' kicked in and I had some hope that we'd at least snatch a draw.
The morning of the game came and I had an early start, taking advantage of two cheap singles, and for the third consecutive Saturday I was navigating through King's Cross St Pancras to get a mainline train. After killing some time at Platform 9 3/4, of Harry Potter fame, I made the way up to Halifax. Halifax is a small town, as I found out, but I managed to spend 10 minutes or so looking around Piece Hall. This is the oldest remaining Cloth Hall in the country, with its opening on the 1st January 1879. A few photos later and I was stood outside the main stand accompanied by Bradford fan, Ellis. We tried locating the clubshop, but Halifax don't seem to have one. Rather they've a stall in the home end, meaning I couldn't get a pin badge. A nice Lady said she'd deliver one to me in the away end, if they arrived. Although about 15 minutes into the game she came and found me to say they hadn't. A small wait at the turnstile later, they finally opened and we made our way into one of my favourite grounds in the league.
Opened in 1921 the ground is a far cry from the days of the Speedway track and terracing upon grass banks, with redevelopment's 'completed' in 2010. Either end are two large terraces. The Home end is the South Stand. Interestingly, although I'm not sure how true it is, it used to be the away end until someone realised it was the only place a bar could be built. Opposite is a similar sized terrace, previously the away end, but shut for football. Opposite us was the Skircoat stand, the oldest in the ground, which doesn't run the full length of the pitch. It is used for when teams have a larger away following. We were sat in the newest, East, stand. Building for this start in 2002, but a relegation and financial problems meant only the shell was completed for a long time. In 2009, with the new reformed FCHT, the 3,500 capacity stand was completed. The ground is also home to Rugby League side, Halifax Blue Sox. In the week it also hosted a sold out Rugby League World Cup game, between Italy and Tonga, with the signs still clearly prominent.
In terms of the game, well there's not much to say. Aldershot were well and truly beaten, not an issue if the effort and desire had have been there, but it wasn't. The first 10 minutes were fairly level, with neither team really settling, but by the 17th Minute the home side were 1-0 up. Lee Gregory, who is linked with MK and Bradford (apparently), netted his 13th of the season. This seemed to fire Aldershot up a bit who then had their ONLY shot on goal, which was neatly tipped over the bar, but nothing came of the corner. In the 26th Minute Halifax had doubled their lead, when some poor defending led to Lee Gregory being able to pull the ball back to former Aldershot man Adam Smith to blast the ball past the static keeper. Things got worse 5 minutes before half time, as Halifax went 3-0 up. I'm not even sure how the player got into the position he did so easily, but he did. Scott McManus was able to beat the Goalie at the near post. Half Time couldn't have come soon enough.
After the restart Halifax knew they didn't need to step out of first gear to keep us at bay. Despite that they continued to have the majority of play, and the best chances. Their fourth finally coming in the 70th minute when Marc Roberts headed home a corner from the right, After that I don't know what happened, as I lost interested, choosing to browse the internet on my phone instead. Thankfully no more goals were conceded as we lost our second consecutive game 4-0. As said, if there was effort, fine. But Halifax didn't need to do a lot to find themselves with the lead they had, due to the resounding lack of fight. The next game is crucial, at home to Southport.
After saying my goodbye's I sought a Subway, waited an hour for my train, and had a long train journey back down south. Not the best day, I will admit.
The morning of the game came and I had an early start, taking advantage of two cheap singles, and for the third consecutive Saturday I was navigating through King's Cross St Pancras to get a mainline train. After killing some time at Platform 9 3/4, of Harry Potter fame, I made the way up to Halifax. Halifax is a small town, as I found out, but I managed to spend 10 minutes or so looking around Piece Hall. This is the oldest remaining Cloth Hall in the country, with its opening on the 1st January 1879. A few photos later and I was stood outside the main stand accompanied by Bradford fan, Ellis. We tried locating the clubshop, but Halifax don't seem to have one. Rather they've a stall in the home end, meaning I couldn't get a pin badge. A nice Lady said she'd deliver one to me in the away end, if they arrived. Although about 15 minutes into the game she came and found me to say they hadn't. A small wait at the turnstile later, they finally opened and we made our way into one of my favourite grounds in the league.
Opened in 1921 the ground is a far cry from the days of the Speedway track and terracing upon grass banks, with redevelopment's 'completed' in 2010. Either end are two large terraces. The Home end is the South Stand. Interestingly, although I'm not sure how true it is, it used to be the away end until someone realised it was the only place a bar could be built. Opposite is a similar sized terrace, previously the away end, but shut for football. Opposite us was the Skircoat stand, the oldest in the ground, which doesn't run the full length of the pitch. It is used for when teams have a larger away following. We were sat in the newest, East, stand. Building for this start in 2002, but a relegation and financial problems meant only the shell was completed for a long time. In 2009, with the new reformed FCHT, the 3,500 capacity stand was completed. The ground is also home to Rugby League side, Halifax Blue Sox. In the week it also hosted a sold out Rugby League World Cup game, between Italy and Tonga, with the signs still clearly prominent.
In terms of the game, well there's not much to say. Aldershot were well and truly beaten, not an issue if the effort and desire had have been there, but it wasn't. The first 10 minutes were fairly level, with neither team really settling, but by the 17th Minute the home side were 1-0 up. Lee Gregory, who is linked with MK and Bradford (apparently), netted his 13th of the season. This seemed to fire Aldershot up a bit who then had their ONLY shot on goal, which was neatly tipped over the bar, but nothing came of the corner. In the 26th Minute Halifax had doubled their lead, when some poor defending led to Lee Gregory being able to pull the ball back to former Aldershot man Adam Smith to blast the ball past the static keeper. Things got worse 5 minutes before half time, as Halifax went 3-0 up. I'm not even sure how the player got into the position he did so easily, but he did. Scott McManus was able to beat the Goalie at the near post. Half Time couldn't have come soon enough.
After the restart Halifax knew they didn't need to step out of first gear to keep us at bay. Despite that they continued to have the majority of play, and the best chances. Their fourth finally coming in the 70th minute when Marc Roberts headed home a corner from the right, After that I don't know what happened, as I lost interested, choosing to browse the internet on my phone instead. Thankfully no more goals were conceded as we lost our second consecutive game 4-0. As said, if there was effort, fine. But Halifax didn't need to do a lot to find themselves with the lead they had, due to the resounding lack of fight. The next game is crucial, at home to Southport.
After saying my goodbye's I sought a Subway, waited an hour for my train, and had a long train journey back down south. Not the best day, I will admit.