2nd consecutive defeat for Men's 1st XI

Halifax men's 1st XI have decided to make it an interesting finish to the season and the title race, with a 2nd consecutive league defeat

With their 2 promotion rivals winning, they are now only 2 points clear at the top with 3 games remaining, and the promotion spots are now wide open and up for grabs

It all started well with a wonder goal from captain Matthew Graham who fired a reverse stick shot with little backlift at rocket speed into the top corner after only 5 minutes.

Unfortunately the wheels started to come off from then onwards as basic mistakes at key moments allowed Slazengers to get into the game.

2 quick goals from poor defending rattled Halifax, although they did come back with a well taken goal from Michael Jones at a penalty corner only to once again give the ball away too easily and see Slazengers take a 3-2 lead into half time.

Halifax then started to dominate the game but poor decision making in front of goal saw them frustrated as Gabe Coleman and Damien Reynolds both saw shots going wide when in good positions.

Slazengers were always dangerous on the break, with 2 quick and skilful forwards and defenders Josh Foreman and Henry Shelton struggled to contain them - Shelton however, did well in the 2nd half to minimize their effectiveness.

Josh Barron started pushing forward from right back and with Michael Jones strong in the middle of the midfield, an equaliser looked likely and it was top scorer Graham who provided a powerful finish when the ball bounced loose in the D.

As the team pushed on for a winner, they once again conceded a penalty corner after some poor tackling and Slazengers took the lead again when a completely mishit shot looped over Matthew Metcalfe in the Halifax goal as other defenders failed to clear it.

Halifax continued to press forward with Leigh Walker pushing up from the defence and Jake Bamforth equalised with a composed finish in yet another goalmouth scramble.

With 15 minutes to go, Halifax fancied a win but a silly tackle from Tom Love saw him sin-binned and other players lost their heads a little as decisions and the run of the ball was not kind.

To compound a difficult game Slazengers scored a winner on yet another quick break when Metcalfe failed to clear the ball and allowed the Slazengers centre forward to fire the ball towards an unprotected goal - Foreman had got back but was only able to deflect it into his own goal.

A poor end to a strange game which saw Halifax play well for periods, but lose their discipline for others, which basically cost them the game.

Graham, Bamforth, Barron and Shelton had good games and Jones was excellent for 3/4 of the game.

It will be down to the rest of the squad to step up and show plenty of mental toughness as well as good basics to ensure the team get over the line and win promotion to play in the Yorkshire Premier league next season.

The team will now need to win 2 of their last 3 games to secure promotion - 2 games are at home to teams in the relegation zone with the 3rd one against their nearest rivals Rotherham away, in what looks like being a title decider.