Halifax Town A.F.C. 1 [1] v Workington 3 [0]

Scorer: Sherriffe.

Goal Assist: Billington.

HTAFC MOM: Heppenstall.

Team: Josh Proctor. David Wilson. Matt Devlin. Antonio Kennedy. Fabien Evans. Lee Coulthard. Dene Heppenstall. Andy Spratt. Jamie Douglas. Craig Billington. Jess-Jo Sherriffe.

Subs: Gerard Jones. Robert Cook [for Andy Spratt 60 mins]. Jameel Nawaz [for Jamie Douglas 80 mins].

Workington had the best of the early exchanges forcing Proctor into a good save low at his near post before Halifax took control with Billington wasting a good through ball from Evans by shooting tamely at the keeper. Spratt fed Douglas and Heppenstall fed Sherriffe - both forced the opposition keeper into good saves. Then, the goal of the game arrived. Keeper Proctor directed a back pass to Devlin on the edge of his own box. Devlin turned out and picked out the unmarked Billington with a 30 yard driven pass. Billington angled the ball out wide to Coulthard, who beat his man and moved the ball forward into the path of Billington who had made a run into the box. Billington short passed to Sherriffe who calmly placed it past the advancing keeper. A goal of real quality! 5 minutes or so before half time Antonio Kennedy pressed the self destruct button. Possibly irritated by the rather robust approach of Workington he kicked out at a player off the ball and was duly dispatched from the pitch. Up to that point Halifax was well in control. It was a game of few chances and a one goal lead going into half time looked to have put Halifax into a very strong position. The sending off changed the fabric of the game and 10 men Halifax suddenly looked vulnerable. None the less after conceding 3 goals in the first 30 minutes of the second half Halifax had 2 late chances to equalise with the excellent Heppenstall hitting the crossbar with a free kick and the lively Coulthard shooting wide after getting behind the keeper. Verdict from management was that a potentially match winning performance had been undone by a mad second.

		P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	FC United of Manchester	5	4	0	1	15	7	12
2	Workington	5	3	1	1	18	11	10
3	Burton Albion	5	3	0	2	11	9	9
4	Halifax Town	5	2	0	3	11	10	6
5	Stalybridge Celtic Blues	4	2	0	2	8	11	6
6	MMU/Newcastle	5	2	0	3	8	13	6
7	Stalybridge Celtic Whites	4	1	2	1	10	11	5
8	Garforth Town	5	0	1	4	8	17	1