Trophy is Shaded by the Shaymen

 

It’s a (very good) double reverse-orientation programme

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Sunday 21 May 2023 at Wembley
Result	Gateshead 0 FC Halifax Town 1
Competition	FA Trophy Final
Hopstats	Second part of my 27th visit to the refurbished Wembley stadium, and the 30th game (there having been two previous double-headers).
Context
Both these Step 1 clubs were in mid-table at the end of the Conference season. Both needed more than one penalty shoot-out on the cup run, including both the semi-finals where Gateshead beat Barnet and Halifax defeated Altrincham. Halifax had the edge in the two league meetings with a 2-0 home win and a 0-0 draw away.
In One Sentence
Tight and tense at times, Halifax won the game with a goal that was slightly fortuitous but created for them by a short backpass.
Pre-Match
The interval between the two games is the main reason why I have skipped this event many times. No exit or re-admission is allowed, and on my first such occasion I was disgusted by the prices and the range of refreshments on offer. On other occasions the time passed more agreeably because I was part of a group, although one year anything that I would choose for food or drink ran out. I had low expectations that anything would be different, and I was largely right. The inter-game entertainment consisted of loud dance music and another pitchside interview with Stuart Pearce, who performed his regular (but very genuine) ritual blessing on the non-league world. This year, I have Duolingo to hand, and my mastery of the subjunctive tense in Spanish increased significantly before kickoff as I surged up my Diamond League. If you know, you know. You wouldn’t see a happier Owl outside of Sheffield this week. The stadium was segregated into four main zones. I’d been with the animated Newport Pagnell faithful for the first match. (I always Go West if I have the chance, so as not to be sunblasted.) Now, there were more stewards than spectators. There were literally six of us in an entire seating block for the Trophy game. I estimated a total of around 300 remaining on the Vase side of the ground. Halifax outnumbered Gateshead in about the same proportion as NPT had outnumbered Ascot. I’d say 17000 out of the day’s 27000 were still here. In summary, this event doesn’t quite work as a double-header, but I dare say I will tolerate it if it gives players from these sides a chance to play here. My recommendations would be – get rid of extra-time for the Vase final, go straight to penalties if need be. Speed up the presentation and get rid of the pointless pyrotechnics. Reduce the length of the gap between the two games. I’m predicting here and now that none of this will happen, no matter how many times fans give the feedback. Scroll back one post in the blog for the report on the FA Vase final.
The Match Report
I’ll be brief because this match has been well-covered elsewhere now. It was a frantic start, with Halifax on top territorially, but the defences of both sides were well-organised and efficient and I didn’t record any gilt-edged chances for either side. James Montgomery in the Gateshead goal had to be alert and dived bravely at the feet of Rob Harker, but then calamity struck just before half-time, leading to what turned out to be the game’s only goal. A backpass was hit too weakly – Montgomery got to the ball first but his clearance was charged down by Jamie Cooke. The ball looped up gently and bounced into the net. Gateshead responded as you would expect and a header by Owen Bailey flashed just wide. Then Montgomery prevented a second goal for Halifax with a close-range reflex save from Jack Hunter. Although the game was never “over” as a contest at any point, the Halifax defending was effective and resolute. Gateshead created a couple of shooting chances but on both occasions the final shots were weak. As the desperation increased, Halifax keeper Sam Johnson was needed to make a good save from Adam Campbell in the 86th minute, and there would be one more near-miss before the final whistle. I couldn’t face another long wait for a stage-managed presentation so I headed out to walk the four miles back to the Yappmobile at Harrow-on-the-Hill, burning off the over-priced carbs from earlier in the day.
Match Pix
Halifax in Blue.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
Usually accompanied by a pre-match prediction on Twitter just before kickoff. Working towards being able to compute a respectable test of statistical significance, it looks like an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test will be appropriate. The full keeper top performance table from my last 279 matches is here, on this separate page, and I’ll organise the test when we reach 300 pieces of evidence. The Halifax keeper top is an unusual one, dominated by Orange & Black from front and back respectively. It’s not the first such event, and the points are divided evenly between the two colours. Either colour would have been predicted to beat the Gateshead Yellow in any event. The two sides of Sam Johnson Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: FC Halifax Town Win Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far 47% (63 from 134)
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter! EFL Playoff weekend coming up next and I will try to get to all three games. Two out of three tickets secured so far. I may have to befriend someone from Yorkshire later in the week.

 

 

North Ferribeaten at Home

"... yet stands the church clock at 4.03, and is there any sugar for t'tea, love?"

Halifax won the flags-and-banners contest too

James Dean (9) prepares to be a nuisance in the box again

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 29 January 2011 at the Rapid Solicitors Stadium
Result	North Ferriby United 0 Halifax Town 3
Competition	Northern Premier League (step 3)
Hopping	Venue #369, I am here because of a lucky roll of two dice, lucky because many of the other fixtures on the shortlist were postponed.  This is the second time I have seen Halifax Town win without conceding this season.
This match in one sentence
Halifax scored at the right times to secure a very impressive and straightforward result in a potentially tricky fixture.
This match summed up in the alleged style of: Baron Prescott of Kingston-upon-Hull
The locals received a ranning, er, I mean a right tanning … and I would like to congratulate the honourable gentlemen from Hollyfox on their victory.
So what?
Halifax Town take another purposeful step towards this title and the Conference North on their road to recovery.  Their 15-point lead looks unassailable, especially with a game in hand over Colwyn Bay and many more goals in the “For” column than anyone else.  North Ferriby remain in the play-off zone in fourth position and they still have plenty to play for this season.
The drama unfolds
After a delayed kickoff to allow the long queues of spectators to get in, Halifax took the lead in the first minute.  A cross from James Dean was put away by Jamie Vardy.  0-1.  They went on to dominate most of the first half, in the manner of this first clip. North Ferriby had a couple of half-chances but Halifax’s Lee Gregory was also very close to scoring.  James Dean was a thorough nuisance to the home defence throughout the half. The second goal also came at a vital moment.  In first-half stoppage time, Gregory was able to turn and shoot for a deserved goal.  0-2 at half time. The second goal is celebrated in the traditional manner The goal of the day came from Vardy in the 56th minute as he finished superbly at the end of a great run.  0-3.  North Ferriby’s Ben Morley picked up a second yellow for an attempted tackle on Vardy and the game petered out with the visitors in the ascendancy.  Plaintive despairing calls of "Deano, set .. set" were heard periodically as the otherwise impressive #9 sometimes tried harder things when he had teammates in space.  Vardy was man-of-the-match - again.  Final score 0-3.
Alternative activity of equal excitement for tourists in North Ferriby
Trainspotting … Halifax supporters won’t agree, of course – they turned up in large numbers and were delighted with their team’s dominant performance.  For me as a passing neutral, this was an anti-climax of a match, and the result was never in doubt.  North Ferriby had been by all accounts the best team seen at The Shay and the only ones to leave Halifax with the points.  They had won their last home fixture 4-0.  The early goal killed the gameplan and the 46th minute goal ripped up the half-time team talk, I guess. By the way, the train is an oldish DMU (diesel multiple unit) of some description, but I am resisting the temptation to find out exactly which sort in case I get terminally interested.
A snippet from the programme
Good job I arrived early – they ran out!  The home fans definitely needed the “Half Time Humour” page.  It included an alleged quote from Bill Shankly which is always worth repeating: “Of course I didn’t take my wife to see Rochdale as an anniversary present.  It was her birthday and would I have got married during the football season?  Anyway, it was Rochdale reserves.”
What I learned today
From “You are the Referee” in the programme: “It’s a last minute penalty to the away side who are 3-0 down but none of their players are prepared to take it as they say you have been so biased there is no point.  What do you do? – Call the side’s captain to you and ask him to tell you who will be taking the penalty kick.  If he refuses to do this, show him a yellow card for delaying the restart.  If he still refuses, show him a second yellow, followed by a red.  Abandon the game and report the full facts to the authorities.”
Something random
The name Ferriby derives from a Danish word, ferja, meaning what we now call a ferry.  The ferry in question went to, wait for it, South Ferriby, on the other bank of the Humber estuary.
What Next?
Something on Tuesday night, but too early to say.

Magic Shaymen Go Top

Sponsors and their guests herded to the centre for our adulation

Hopperational details

Tuesday 19 October 2010 at The Shay, FC Halifax Town 1 Bradford PA 0 in the Northern Premier League (Step 3).  I am here because a shuffled iPod came up with The Beatles.

This match in one sentence

Bradford PA had one good chance in each half and squandered them both, but the game was on a knife-edge to the end as Halifax took only one of many.

So what?

FC Halifax Town go back to the top of the table, and Bradford PA stay in fifth place.  Local bragging rights stay rightly with the Shaymen after this result and performance which was watched by a crowd of 2,011.

Who caught the eye on the pitch?

One of the many banners on display proclaimed “James Dean Goal Machine” and I was already thinking up potential captions like “East of Todmorden” in anticipation.  Sadly, he had a shocker in this observer’s humble opinion.  Though undoubtedly a physical threat and nuisance up front, he badly mishit two great shooting chances and missed another close-range opportunity. “Rebel Without a Goal” this time, then. My man-of-the-match was Halifax winger Jamie Vardy, and the sponsors agreed.  His burst of pace and pinpoint cross set up the crucial goal on a proverbial plate for Danny Holland after 15 minutes.  He delivered time and time again, and the only blot on his performance was that he missed the target from a one-on-one break.  Two crucial goal-line clearances (both, I believe, by Liam Hogan) were just as important in securing this win.  Halifax deserved the points, no doubt about it, but they should have won by a bigger margin.

This match had the same effect on my pulse rate as …

… worrying about how many mothballs it will take to mothball an aircraft carrier, and how many moths are going to die if someone leaves a light on.

A snippet from the programme

The price - £3 !!  To be fair, it is a very professionally produced effort with seventeen substantial articles of interest, except for an awful match report error which describes a 4-0 win over Harrogate Town while forgetting to change the banner heading from the previous week’s 4-0 victory over Hucknall Town. There is a nice page of “derby memories” contributed by the Halifax team.  Manager Neil Aspin says that, “The first time he played in a Potteries derby was when the two teams (Stoke City and Port Vale) hadn’t played each other for over 60 years. That was at the Victoria Ground… a complete sell-out with over 30,000 people in attendance.  It was a fantastic atmosphere.”  However, both James Riley and Richard Marshall choose the Harrogate Town v Harrogate Railway experience.  James says, “The two Harrogate clubs really do not get on”.  Richard, who played for both, confirms this.  “They are always heated occasions when you play another local team”, he says.

What I learned today

The Shay is probably looking better than it did in The Beatles’ heyday.  Knowing that FC Halifax Town had only been in existence for a couple of years in their present form, only returning to Step 3 this year after two seasons in Step 4, I expected the ground to be looking a lot worse.  Halifax Town had folded at the end of 2007-8 and lost their appeal against demotion from Conference level football. The club has shared with the town’s rugby league team for over a decade but there were no issues with the playing surface.  Two of the four stands were open, offering a choice between seating and standing (I spent a half in each).  This did not feel like a step 3 encounter and Halifax are clearly eyeing a second successive promotion.  I wouldn’t bet against them on what I saw here.

What Next?

Bedfont Town v Hitchin Town this evening!  The home side, in last season’s incarnation as Bedfont Green, had been sharing with Windsor & Eton of late, so they need to be re-visited under my ‘hopping rules.  As a resident of the Hitchin area, I will be looking for a handsome win from the table-topping Canaries.