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Harrogate Railway v FC Halifax Town: How will Town cope with favourites' tag?
FC Halifax Town will be bidding for their third knockout win in four games when they travel to harrogate Railway in the first qualifying round of the FA Trophy on Saturday.
And unlike their trip to Nantwich last weekend, the Shaymen will be favourites this time round.
Railway may be in the same division as Town, but this week they lost their manager Dave Morgan.
He had been given the full backing of the Station View board despite a start to the season which had seen 10 defeats and two draws from 12 starts.
But he quit his position and Railway will be guided by former Halifax Irish supremo Stuart Waddington tomorrow afternoon.
None of that will concern Halifax who, despite their defeat in the FA Cup second qualifying round six days ago, are enjoying a decent run of results at the moment.
They have won four of their last five games despite not playing overly well at times and that has to be a good thing.
The key to any success they enjoy could well be their first half display.
They have been far better in the first 45 minutes of games in recent weeks than they have after the break.
And if they can steal a march on their beleagured hosts they can go on and win.
Railway have lost their last five matches, a run that started with a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Wakefield FC who were beaten at the Shay in midweek.
They crashed 5-1 at home to Bamber Bridge, lost by the only goal of the game at Durham City and went down 3-2 at Colwyn Bay before Monday's League Cup exit at the hands of Durham.
The fact that their manager has now departed may see an upturn in fortunes - the dead cat bounce that so many pundits talk about.
But Town will be well aware of the potential backlash from a bunch of dispirited players and prepare accordingly.
The Shaymen's problems will come at the back where a new defence will be required following injuries to experienced duo Steve Payne and Tony Barras.
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Weather for Halifax
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North west
