Men's 1s lose local derby

Halifax have left themselves a lot to do in the final two games after luck and key umpiring decisions went against them in this key match against local rivals

Games between these two teams are always close and competitive having played each other on many occasions. Both teams looked to apply pressure from the start and was very much a nip and tuck game.

Halifax were pressing high up the pitch and this was causing Bradford problems and at times they were struggling to get out of their half. Jake Bamforth was making good runs in behind the defence. Andy Kaye had a straight strike from a short corner well saved and Josh Barron narrowly missed a chance on the back post.

It looked like it was going to be a mistake or bad luck that would allow either side to break the deadlock and unfortunately for Halifax both arrived mid way through the half. Kaye intercepted a through ball with ease, but unfortunately his ball out from defence went straight to an unmarked striker on the top of the D. Keeper Matthew Breton almost making the save from the resultant shot but the pace on the strike beat him.

Halifax almost responded immediately winning a short corner and Tom Love’s powerful shot looked to be going in the bottom corner only for the keeper to make a fine diving save.

Just before halftime Bradford scored their second, a quick counter attack looked to have been dealt with only for the ball to fall for the striker to deflect in.

The second half saw Halifax’s luck go from bad to worse. Pressing to get the goal that would get them back into the game Halifax had increased their work-rate and were chasing down every ball. Barron lost the ball out on the left and in chasing back to win the ball back. His stick tackle was clumsy at best but to the astonishment of both teams and the spectators the Umpire produced a red card! A truly shocking decision. The first card ever Barron has received in 14years of playing! Another yellow card (and a 10min sin bin) was also issued to Halifax player in the protests that followed and they were suddenly down to 9 men.

As to be expected Bradford pressed home their advantage and were looking to pin Halifax back. The defence was up against it and were defending valiantly. Kaye and Man of the Match David Wheatley were marshalling the back line and along with Connor Sutcliffe and Ben Greenwood were keeping the Bradford strikers at bay.

Bradford eventually wrapped up the points with 5mins to go with a short corner routine that slipped in under Breton’s dive

Final score 3-0 in a game that was much closer than it suggests and was always going to be a tall order for Halifax after the cards. Halifax have top of the league Huddersfield away next.