Burton Albion took full advantage of the fact that Halifax were playing with only one specialist centre half scoring four of their goals from set pieces and balls pumped into the box. The warning signs were flashing after only 2 minutes when Burton hit the crossbar from a corner. Halifax had the ball in the net after some 5 minutes with Craig Billington poking home a Fabian Evans free kick but the linesman judged the effort to be marginally offside. Keeper Josh Proctor then made a hash of a fairly ordinary floated free kick coming out out too far in attempting to meet the ball and Halifax were one nil down after 6 minutes. Dene Heppenstall then had 2 good chances to equalize but both shots from inside the box were well saved by the opposition keeper. Minutes before half time the Albion scored again. A corner was not properly dealt with in the box and keeper Proctor, under pressure on his line, tried to punch clear the ball but it landed at the feet of an Albion player who smashed it into the back of the net from the edge of the six yard box. With Halifax already short of a specilist centre half, keeper Proctor having an off day and specialist centre half Devlin now carrying a heavy knock, the signs for the second half were looking ominous. At half time goal chances in the first half were about even [5 -4 to the Albion] but the second half was a different story with Burton creating 9 chances to our 1.

Other Results :-

Burton Albion 6 Halifax Town 0

FC United of Manchester 3 MMU/Newcastle 1

Garforth Town 0 Workington 3

Stalybridge Celtic Blues 1 Stalybridge Celtic Whites 4

League Table :-

By Nick Fletcher