Barnet Football Club

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FC Halifax Town Match Preview

General Information
• Ticket information is available by clicking here. 
• Shuttle bus information is available by clicking here. 
Introduction
• Barnet host play-off chasing rivals FC Halifax Town at The Hive this Saturday.
• Kick-off will be at 15.07 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster; more information can be found by clicking here.
• Halifax currently occupy the final play-off spot but a Barnet win would lift them above the Shaymen.
• Defeat however would see Halifax move five points clear of the Bees with a game in hand. 
• Striker Lee Gregory is the Skrill Premier’s joint top goalscorer with 27, the same total notched by Luton Town’s Andre Gray. 
• Barnet’s Spanish trio of Luisma Villa, Roberto Casabella and Dani Lopez are all unavailable due to injury.
• Curtis Weston could however return after missing the Bees’ last two fixtures due to suspension. 
Team news
Barnet Football Club
• Luisma Villa, Roberto Casabella and Dani Lopez all miss out through injury. A detailed update regarding their fitness is available by clicking here. 
• Curtis Weston could return after missing two matches following a tenth yellow card of the season. 
FC Halifax Town
• Adam Smith is likely to return to the starting XI after missing last week’s 1-0 win over Nuneaton Town.
• Paul Marshall is also likely to feature after recovering from illness along with Marc Roberts.
The opposition
• FC Halifax Town were formed in 2008 after Halifax Town AFC went into administration.
• The club are based in West Yorkshire and play their home matches at The Shay. 
• The club finished eighth in the Northern Premier League Division One North during their inaugural season before winning the division and promotion the following year. 
• The following season, 2010/11, saw a second promotion as they won the Northern Premier League Premier Division. 
• Halifax were beaten in the play-offs during their first season in the Conference North but the following season they were promoted beating Brackley Town in the play-off final.
• Halifax are currently managed by former Leeds United defender Neil Aspin.
• Aspin began his playing career with the Lilywhites spending seven years at Elland Road making over 200 league appearances before moving to Port Vale.
• He made over 350 appearances for the Staffordshire based club during a ten-year spell which saw him win promotion from the second division and the FA Trophy.
• He also turned out for Darlington losing play-off finals with Leeds, Port Vale and the Quakers.
• After spending four years as manager of Harrogate Town Aspin moved to Halifax in 2009 where he has guided them to three promotions taking them from the second tier of the Northern Premier League to the Conference National. 
Last time out
8 April 2014
Skrill Premier
Southport 1-1 Barnet
Barnet: Stack; Stephens, Gjokaj, Yiadom, Vilhete (Muggleton 57); Abdulla (Dymond 54), Byrne, Harper; Marsh-Brown (Lowe 80), Hyde, Nurse. 
Subs not used: Saville, Crawford.
Goals: Byrne 45.
5 April 2014
Skrill Premier
Nuneaton Town 0-1 FC Halifax Town
FC Halifax Town: Glennon, Pearson, McManus, Maynard, Lowe, Bolton, Smith, Crowther, Marshall (Wilson 46), Jackson (Spencer 64), Gregory.
Subs not used: Worthington, McReady, Senior.
Goals: Smith 85.
Previous meeting

7 September 2013 – FC Halifax Town 3-1 Barnet
High-flying Barnet suffered their first defeat of the Conference Premier season at the hands of FC Halifax.
The home side opened the scoring through Scott McManus, whose 25-yard strike found the bottom corner.
Lois Maynard doubled the hosts’ lead five minutes after the break, stroking the ball into the net from Marc Roberts’ knock-down.
Barnet got one back through Curtis Weston’s stunning strike, before Keanu Marsh-Brown hit the crossbar late on.
Report from BBC Sport
FC Halifax Town: Glennon, Toulson, McManus, Pearson, Lowe, Smith (McReady 77), Roberts, Ainge, Carver (Johnson 59), Gardner (Marshall 67), Maynard.
FC Halifax Town substitutes: Senior, Williams, Marshall, Johnson, McReady.
Barnet: Stack; Yiadom, Stephens, Acheampong (Crawford 56), Johnson; Weston, Byrne, Casabella (Villa 56); Marsh-Brown, Gambin (Vilhete 78); Hyde.
Barnet substitutes: Crawford, Jupp, Luisma, Vilhete, Brown.