FIXTURE DETAILS:

FC Halifax Town vs Barnet FC

Wednesday 2nd December, 19:45 KO

The Shay Stadium 

Vanarama National League

THE SHAYMEN 

League Position: 20th (P9 W1 D4 L4)

Last Result: Sutton United 1-0 FC Halifax Town (National League, Saturday 28th November)

Manager: Pete Wild

Club Captain: Nathan Clarke

FC Halifax Town sit one position and point below the Bees in the Vanarama National League table heading into the clash at The Shay. Pete Wild’s side have not won since the opening day where they beat Dagenham and Redbridge 2-0 with a goal either side of half time. Since then, the Shaymen have drawn four and lost four of their games, so they, like the Bees will be desperate to get a win under their belts. 

The Shaymen qualified for the Vanarama National League play-offs in the 2019-20 campaign, but lost out to Boreham Wood in their play-off eliminator match in July. Like many of last years beaten play-off sides they have struggled for form in this campaign following a reasonably large overhaul of the playing squad in the summer. They lost out to Sutton United on Saturday afternoon, but impressed with their performance and would have felt mighty unlucky not to have taken something from Gander Green Lane. 

Despite their league position, Wild’s side have picked up some notable results including a well-earned point at home to title favourites Notts County. They have scored just six times so far this campaign, but have only conceded eight, with just three sides in the National League boasting a better defensive record. Based on that it’s set to be a tight affair at The Shay Stadium, particularly with Barnet’s improved defensive performances. 

THE BEES

The Bees can count themselves unfortunate to have narrowly been edged out in the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon. They more than matched League One side MK Dons throughout the game before experienced striker Cameron Jerome nicked a winner late on in the tie. However, the Bees will want to be more ruthless in attack this time out, after improving defensively in the previous two matches. Beadle’s side put a bad week behind them in their last National League outing as they earnt a clean sheet and a point in a tight contest with Hartlepool United. 

Beadle was pleased with the improvement his side showed in the last two matches but will be keen for his side to get themselves back on track with three points against the Shaymen. The Bees have got into some promising area’s in the last two matches and will be hoping to create some more openings in the matches coming up. The boss spoke on Sunday about using the last two performances as a platform against FC Halifax Town and will know that if a similar attitude is shown, then three points will follow in the upcoming matches, starting with the match at The Shay Stadium. 

The Bees look set to be without Michael Petrasso for the match with the Shaymen after the Canadian loanee hobbled off with a suspected hamstring injury in the cup tie with MK Dons. Beadle will be hopeful that his side can stay injury-free in the upcoming matches after a string of injuries has made life difficult for the Bees in recent weeks. Josh Walker appears to be heading back towards a return, but the boss again stressed that it’s important to be careful with his return following the hamstring injury that had a reoccurrence in the draw with Wrexham. 

All in all, the Bees will want to use the trip to FC Halifax Town to put in another positive performance and hopefully pick up a crucial three points ahead of this weekend’s big clash with Wealdstone. 

LAST TIME WE MET:

The teams shared the points last time we met, as Jack Taylor netted his final Barnet goal in a 1-1 draw back in January.

 

WHAT’S BEEN SAID:

Peter Beadle:

“The boys seem to be back on it again, the performances have been better and we now need the results to go with it. It’s a nice platform for us to move forward to Halifax on Wednesday. I watched their game on Saturday, it was a real game of two halves, Sutton controlled the first and Halifax controlled the second half, they maybe should have got something from the game.

“Eventually results will take care of themselves, it’s really important that we see a similar, if not improved performance in the next two or three matches. If we can do that then I am sure we will put some more points on the board.”

 

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION:

Bees fans can tune into FC Halifax Town’s live stream of the match, which costs £9.99. More information on how to purchase your stream can be found by CLICKING HERE. 

Alternatively, you can follow live minute by minute text updates of the match with the Shaymen, via our Twitter account. All the post-match reaction will follow throughout the day on Thursday.