The Halifax Town youngsters were once again a credit to the Club as they systematically dismantled second in the table Burton Albion with a controlled performance underpinned by a subtle combination of flair, aggression, commitment and concentration. Sheriffe had an excellent chance to open the scoring after only 10 minutes but his shot was prodded just wide from some 2 yards out after Heppenstall, who along with colleague Coulthard won the midfield battle hands down, had 'played him in' with a well weighted pass. Sheriffe then forced the keeper into a good save after unleashing a vicious shot and Douglas had his shot blocked after working the ball into the box from a short corner routine. Heppenstall and Billington both went close with further chances and at this stage the only threat posed to the Halifax goal came about as the result of a mix up between keeper Proctor and centre half Kennedy resulting in Proctor's attempted clearance ricocheting off Kennedy's posterior and almost into the empty goal. Halifax deservedly took the lead on 31 minutes. Holt delivered an accurate corner ball onto Devlin's head. Devlin's header moved the ball across the box and Heppenstall, facing his own goal, overhead kicked it into the roof of the net. A real 'goal of the season' contender! Billington and Sheriffe had further good chances before Burton Albion, completely against the run of play, equalised just before half time. A high Burton free kick was dropped by Proctor and from the resulting defender's clearance the ball was returned back into the area and tucked into the net by a Burton player. Halifax took the lead with the first chance of the second half. The lively Coulthard robbed a Burton player on the edge of the box and fed Oldroyd who unleashed a low shot which was deflected into the goal by an under pressure Burton defender. Douglas then delivered one of his trademark free kicks and Billington turned Holt's attempted shot into a pass by slamming the ball into the roof of the net. Burton scored a very late consolation goal, again against the run of play, when keeper Proctor got late to a high through ball and the Burton forward cleverly lobbed the ball into the unguarded net from the edge of the area.

Management Opinion. This was another good performance against a strong Burton side. We are now aware that the players are moving down what we term the a-b-c scale - a being for ability, b being for belief and c being for confidence. Our intense coaching routine has progressively nurtured the ability in the side and as a result performances have started to improve and we have now moved into the b stage in that players have started to believe in their ability. The next stage is to ensure that we move into the c stage where confidence will improve on the back of a and b stages thus ensuring that we constantly reproduce high calibre performances. Of course we will be watchful and ensure that the c stage doesn't metamorphose into complacency and unravel all the excellent work incorporated into a and b stages.

HTAFC Team. Josh Proctor. Sam Holt. Antonio Kennedy. Mathew Devlin. Fabian Evans. Lee Coulthard. Dene Heppenstall. Jamie Douglas. Luke Oldroyd. Jess-Jo Sheriffe. Craig Billington.

Subs. Andy Spratt. Gavin Jack. Paul Hague. Gerard Jones.

HTAFC MoM . Heppenstall/Devlin.

HTAFC Scores. Heppenstall. Own Goal. Billington.

HTAFC Goal Assists. Devlin.Coulthard. Holt.

Goal Chances. HTAFC.17

BA. 4

Results :-