TOWN'S players and staff would never admit that the events of the previous 24 hours or so had anything to do with their performance at the New Lawn.
But the prospect of the club that employs you going into administration is hardly likely to instil confidence.
And it was a strangely lacklustre display from the Shaymen in Gloucestershire that saw them tumble to their first away defeat since January.
They created chances and had their share of possession, but they were never able to recover from conceding two goals in the opening five minutes to the Blue Square Premier's leading marksman, the prolific Stuart Fleetwood.
And there was plenty of frustration apparent in the Town players' faces, partly due to some baffling decisions from referee Rob Merchant and partly because they were unable to get their game going.
A week off before the next league outing at home to Oxford could be just what they need.
Certainly what they did not need was to go behind early on a pitch that was under water an hour before kick off and was never easy to play on.
But that was exactly what happened as Rovers forced an early corner on the right. Anthony Tonkin delivered the ball, Darren Jones flicked on and Fleetwood forced home from close range.
As if that was not bad enough, the Shaymen were two down inside the first five minutes as Fleetwood struck again.
This time it came from a Town corner which was cleared downfield by Alex Lawless and Fleetwood raced clear before lifting the ball into the net over the advancing Adam Legzdins.
Halifax were struggling to get a foothold in the game and were relieved when Les Afful's 15th-minute tap-in was disallowed for offside.
Jake Wright, under tremendous pressure on his own penalty spot, also did well to get a head to an Ishmael Welsh cross from the left.
Town finally created a chance in the 16th minute when Matt Doughty and Jon Shaw combined to find Danny Forrest whose shot was blocked.
And within 30 seconds Tom Kearney hammered in a shot from the edge of the area that flew wide.
That sparked a decent spell for the Shaymen when they had chances to force their way back into the game.
Wright's long ball downfield cleared the home defence allowing Shaw to go clean through but his shot was saved by the legs of home keeper Ryan Robinson.
And four minutes later, after a Gareth Davies free kick had only been half cleared, Doughty picked out Shaw on the left and he saw another good effort turned round the post by Robinson.
Legzdins saved well from Fleetwood, diving at the striker's feet after he had latched onto an Adriano Rigoglioso flick.
And a Lawless free kick from the right flashed across the Town six-yard box before rolling wide of the far post.
Andy Campbell was introduced at the start of the second half and immediately had a hand in a move that ended with Shaw heading a Doughty cross down but wide of goal.
And Campbell had a great chance to reduce the arrears in the 50th minute when the striker did well to latch onto another good ball from Wright only to be denied by Robinson.
That incident appeared to deflate the Town side and they rarely threatened the Forest Green goal again.
Rovers did not cause too many problems at the other end either on a pitch that rarely allowed a player from either side to settle on the ball.
Rigoglioso had an effort deflected wide by the Town defensive wall from a free kick that should never have been awarded – Heslop's challenge on Brough was nothing more than a 50-50 clash.
And from the resulting corner Tonkin crossed deep to Fleetwood who fired wide.
Fleetwood had one last chance to complete a hat-trick with 17 minutes of the game remaining when Mark Preece picked him out on the right, but Legzdins got down well to turn the ball behind for a corner.
STAR SHAYMANJon Shaw kept the skipper's armband despite the presence of Tom Kearney in the side and continued to lead by example.
He chased down lost causes, tried to link the play up once Andy Campbell had been introduced and had a couple of great efforts that brought out the best in Rovers keeper Ryan Robinson.
Simon Heslop continues to impress, even in games in which the Shaymen are not at their best.
He hassles and harries in the middle of the park, defends with calmness and still has the energy to get into attacking positions which he did on Saturday.
Town's defence looked shell-shocked after five minutes by the time Forest Green were two up.
But Jake Wright recovered well to pull off some important tackles and it was his balls downfield that created one-on-one chances for Shaw and Campbell.
Shaw takes the three points on offer in our season-long competition with Heslop two and Wright one.
PLAYER POINTSJon Shaw 43, Simon Heslop 34, Anthony Griffith 22, Tom Kearney 21, Andy Campbell 19, Lewis Killeen 14, Matt Doughty 12, Steve Torpey 12, Steve Bushell 10, Jake Wright 11, Daryl Taylor 8, Danny Forrest 7, Rob Scott 7, Tom Clarke 6, Adam Legzdins 6, Cortez Belle 5, Craig Nelthorpe 4, Craig Mawson 3, Adam Quinn 3, Nathan Joynes 2, Darryn Stamp 2, Ryan Toulson 2, Greg Young 2, Peter Atherton 1, Gareth Davies 1.
MATCH FACTS
Forest Green Rovers: Robinson, Lawless, Giles, Jones, Tonkin, Welsh (Stonehouse 61), Brough, Afful (Dodgson 87), Clist, Rigoglioso (Preece 69), Fleetwood. Subs (not used): Smith, Bertram.
Booked: Brough, Stonehouse
Sent-off: None
Goals: Fleetwood 3, 5
Halifax Town: Legzdins, Davies, Clarke (Gaia 74), Wright, Doughty, Griffith, Kearney (Campbell 46), Heslop, Forrest (Whitehouse 60), Killeen, Shaw. Subs (not used): Mawson, Gray
Booked: Forrest, Doughty, Heslop
Sent-0ff: None
Goals: None
Attendance: 690
Referee: R Merchant (Staffordshire)
YOU SAYA tired performance, lets move on and get the points to make us safe. Come on fans, turn out and back the lads - ANDY
Click here to read: Shaw confident Town can surviveClick here to read: Poor defending cost us - bossThe full article contains 1051 words and appears in Evening Courier newspaper.
