Bromley v FC Halifax Town preview

Venue: Hayes Lane

Date: Saturday, March 2

Kick-off: 3pm

Referee: Callum Walchester is in his first season officiating at National League level and has shown 25 yellow cards, but no red cards, in seven matches. He took charge of Bromley's 1-0 home win over Fylde in November and their 0-0 draw at Maidenhead in January but is yet to officiate a Halifax game.

Odds: Bromley win 17/20, draw 5/2, Halifax win 13/5

In the league this season

Bromley: 2nd - PL35 W17 D11 L7 F59 A42 GD17 Pts62

Halifax: 8th - PL35 W14 D11 L10 F42 A39 GD3 Pts53

Last five games

Bromley: Hartlepool (h) L 2-1, Aveley (FAT h) W 2-0, Chesterfield (h) W 4-3, Dag & Red (h) D 2-2, Eastleigh (a) L 2-0

Halifax: Solihull (h) L 3-1, Dorking (a) W 3-1, Maidenhead (h) W 2-1, Woking (h) W 3-1, Dag & Red (a) W 1-0

Scorers

Bromley: Cheek (21), Olomola (9), Whitely (6), Krauhaus (6), Dennis (5), Woods (3), Passley (3), Elerewe (2), Reynolds (2), Okoli (2), Kirk (2), Kader, Miller, Webster, Topalloj, Jones

Halifax: Alli (7), Wright (4), Harker (4), Senior (4), Hoti (4), Cosgrave (3), Summerfield (3), Cooke (2), Oluwabori (2), Thomson-Sommers, Evans, Cummings, Keane, Cappello, Golden, Hunter, Stott, George

Manager: Andy Woodman arrived at Hayes Lane from Arsenal, where he was Head of Goalkeeping. He guided the Ravens to FA Trophy glory in 2022 and a play-off finish last season before losing to Chesterfield.

Last season: 7th in National League

One to watch: Still the danger man for Bromley, 32-year-old Michael Cheek netted 17 times for them last season, including seven goals in his last eight games. He has six goals in his last five appearances and is once again their top-scorer and biggest threat this campaign.

Head-to-head: Played 15, Bromley wins 4, draws 6, Halifax wins 5

Last time they met: Jack Evans and Milli Alli scored for Town as they beat Bromley 2-0 on the opening day of the season.

Match facts: Only Southend have conceded fewer goals in the National League than Halifax (39)

If Halifax win on Saturday, it will be the first time they'll have won five games in a row since March 2022

Only Chesterfield and Barnet have won more games in the National League this season than Bromley (17), while only Chesterfield have lost fewer games in the division than them (7)

Only Chesterfield have won more home matches in the division this season than Bromley (11) or scored more home goals than them (39)

Only Bromley have conceded fewer away goals in the fifth tier this season than Halifax (20)

Bromley have failed to score in two of their 22 home matches in all competitions this season, and have found the net in each of their last 12 home outings.

But Bromley have only kept a clean sheet in one of their last 12 league matches.

Halifax's shut-out at Dagenham and Redbridge last Saturday was their first clean sheet in nine games.

Saturday's National League fixtures:

Dorking W v Chesterfield

Woking v Kidderminster

Bromley v Halifax

York v Wealdstone

Boreham W v Gateshead

Ebbsfleet v Rochdale

Oldham v Southend

Eastleigh v Solihull M

Hartlepool v Barnet

Oxford C v Aldershot

Fylde v Maidenhead

Dag & Red v Altrincham