FC United welcome Halifax Town to Broadhurst Park - Match Preview

FC United face two games in three days as we welcome Halifax Town to Broadhurst Park for the first time this Saturday before making the short trip to familiar friends and rivals Curzon Ashton on Monday night.

FC United face two games in three days as we welcome Halifax Town to Broadhurst Park for the first time this Saturday before making the short trip to familiar friends and rivals Curzon Ashton on Monday night.

The Reds will want to bounce back after losing 2-1 to Alfreton Town last Saturday but two tough matches await. Halifax are currently in fifth place and aiming to get promoted straight back into the Vanarama National League Premier Division at the first attempt.

Karl Marginson’s side have won three and lost two of their last five and currently sit in 13th place with 43 points. Conventional wisdom suggests United need just one more win from our remaining eight league matches to seal survival and a place in the National League North for next season.

However, the Reds will be playing for pride as well as survival, whilst also looking to improve on last season’s 13th place finish and tally of 53 points. In contrast, Saturday’s visitors currently occupy the final play-off spot but are just a point clear of the chasing duo of Darlington and Stockport County, so they will want to take all three points.

However, the West Yorkshire club’s recent form has been patchy with two wins, two defeats and a draw. The defeats were both upsets too, coming against midtable Alfreton and Gloucester City.

The two clubs have met competitively three times before with the Shaymen holding a 100% record in the fixture. The Reds did win a pre-season friendly between the two sides 4-2 way back in 2006, when a Steve Torpey screamer saw him immediately signed up by Halifax.

Since then, Halifax have proved too strong for United with victories of 1-0, 4-1, and 3-1. The latter came on a Tuesday night in October last year at the Shay Stadium when Halifax were 2-0 up inside 20 minutes and looked comfortable throughout. The FC United faithful will be hoping for better on Saturday.

Six-foot-six striker Tom Denton remains the danger-man for Halifax with 15 goals so far this season, two of which came against FC United in the reverse fixture. But obviously, the Reds have players of their own who know how to find the back of the net, particularly George Thomson, who will be looking to add to his fantastic tally of 16 from midfield.

Manager Karl Marginson may be tempted to freshen up the team that slipped to last week’s defeat and he has plenty of options in his squad to do so. Striker Jason Gilchrist will be hoping for his first start in four matches and forward Kieran Glynn will be hoping to feature for the first time since the 2-1 defeat at Stockport last month.

FC United of Manchester versus Halifax Town is this Saturday at Broadhurst Park with kick-off at the traditional and supporter friendly time of three o’clock. It’s pay on the gate for home supporters with prices at £9 for adults, £5 for concessions, and £2 for under-18s. Get yourself to that football ground.