Aldershot v FC Halifax Town preview

Venue: The EBB Stadium

Date: Saturday, September 25

Kick-off: 3pm

Referee: Daniel Lamport has taken charge of three games this season, showing ten yellow cards. Last season, he refereed 14 National League matches, showing 48 yellow cards and three red cards. This will be the first time he has taken charge of an FC Halifax Town game, but he did officiate in two Aldershot matches last season- their 3-1 home defeat against Solihull in February and their 2-1 away loss to Torquay in April.

Odds: Aldershot win 9/5, draw 5/2, Halifax win 5/4

Season so far

Aldershot - P7, W1, D1, L5, F9, A14: Chesterfield (h) L 2-0, Boreham Wood (a) L 1-0, Yeovil (h) L 2-1, Notts County (a) L 3-2, Solihull (h) L 2-1, Southend (a) W 3-2, Wealdstone (a) D 2-2

Halifax - P7, W4, D1, L2, F14, A8: Maidenhead (h) L 2-1, Woking (a) W 3-2, Altrincham (h) W 2-0, Yeovil (a) L 1-0, Southend (h) W 3-1, Boreham Wood (a) D 2-2, Stockport (h) W 3-0

Scorers

Halifax: Billy Waters (6), Jordan Slew (2), Tom Bradbury (2), Jesse Debrah, Martin Woods, Niall Maher, Matty Warburton

Aldershot: Corie Andrews (5), Giles Phillips, Mo Bettamer, Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong

Manager: Molesley was appointed on Monday, replacing Danny Searle, whose departure had been announced earlier in the day. He is a former Aldershot player and guided Weymouth to back-to-back promotions before joining Southend, where he had a tough spell, leaving after just seven months. He has joined Aldershot on a deal until the end of the 2022-23 season.

Last season: 15th in National League

One to watch: Striker Corie Andrews is on loan at Aldershot until January from AFC Wimbledon and ha scored five goals in seven appearances this season.

He spent 10 years at Crystal Palace, winning Academy Player of the Year in 2014, and signing a professional contract at the age of 17.

Since then, the 24-year-old has had spells in non-league with a number of clubs including Margate, Whyteleafe and most recently Kingstonian, scoring nine goals in 11 appearances prior to the suspension of their 2020-21 campaign, before moving to League One side AFC Wimbledon.

Match facts: Only Solihull’s Joe Sbarra and Chesterfield’s Kabongo Tshimanga have scored more goals in the National League than Halifax’s top-scorer Billy Waters (6).

Aldershot are yet to keep a clean sheet this season, and haven’t done so for 11 games.

The Shots have lost their last six home games, conceding 13 goals in the process.

Only Nott County and Dagenham and Redbridge have scored more goals in the division than Halifax (14), while only Torquay and Barnet have conceded more than Aldershot (14).

Possible line-ups

Aldershot: 3-5-2 - Walker; Fowler, Phillips, Lyons-Foster; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Whittingham, Edser, Harris, Kinsella; Andrews, Bettamer.

Halifax: 4-2-3-1 - Johnson; Warren, Maher, Bradbury, Senior; Green, Woods; Slew, Warburton, Gilmour, Waters.

Last time they met: Jamie Allen’s late goal made it four wins on the bounce for FC Halifax Town as they beat Aldershot 1-0 at The Shay in March. Tavhon Campbell hit the bar for Halifax early on before Billy Chadwick then did the same. Aldershot had chances of their own to take the lead, but the decisive moment came with seven minutes left as Allen latched onto a through ball and finished calmly across goal.

Follow all the action from The EBB Stadium on Saturday with our live blog on the Courier website, where there will also be an on-the-whistle match report and post-match reaction from Town boss Pete Wild.

Saturday’s National League fixtures:

Dover v Bromley

Barnet v Weymouth

Aldershot v Halifax

Altrincham v Notts Co

Boreham W v Yeovil

Maidenhead v Grimsby

Eastleigh v Woking

Stockport v Wrexham

King’s Lynn v Wealdstone

Dag & Red v Solihull M

Chesterfield v Torquay