Last season, Rossendale United pulled off an unlikely double against FC Halifax Town.Those results put the brakes on the Shaymen's rise up the table, so it was no surprise that manager Neil Aspin was delighted to get through Tuesday's clash with United unscathed.Speaking to Shaymen Player's Adam Cheshire after the game, the Shay chief said ;

"It's a massive three points for us.It was definitely a potential banana skin, particularly with the weather and the pitch as they were, so I would say that I am more pleased with this win than with the previous two results (the wins over Mossley and Harrogate Railway)No football match is easy, but I'm delighted with the way we went about things"

Despite it taking place with the score at 0-0, Aspin was keen to play down the significance of the double substitution which saw Mark Peers and Andy Lee enter the fray;

"The two lads who came off (Richard Marshall and Scott Phelan) were unlucky to get the hook, but I felt we needed to break things down a bit and change the formation.Sometimes you make a gamble like that and it pays off - it certainly helped us win the game"

With his final thought of the night, Aspin praised the effort of the ground staff and volunteers who cleared the snow from the Shay pitch earlier in the day;

"It was a truly fantastic effort.We desperately needed the game to be on and it couldn't have been done without the guys who helped out.It gives us a little bit of an edge over those who didn't play tonight - we have a game in hand on Lancaster which we have to win."

Words by Tom Snee