Harrogate Town eye repeat show at FC Halifax Town in FA Cup

A late Mark Beck strike decided September’s National League derby encounter between the two Yorkshire rivals, and Harrogate boss Simon Weaver is hoping for more of the same as his side aim to make it into the first round proper.

“It’s another local derby and a proper FA Cup game against a very good team,” he said ahead of the fourth qualifying round clash.

“The draw could’ve been kinder because we’re away from home and we are up against opposition who are currently above us [in the footballing pyramid], but it’s certainly a challenge that we’re relishing.

“When we went to Halifax last month the players really dug deep and we came away with an excellent result. Obviously we’re hoping that we can do the same again this Saturday.”

Harrogate, knocked out in the fourth qualifying round in each of the last four seasons, have recent FA Cup history with Halifax having lost 2-0 to them at the same stage in 2016/17.

Pete Wild’s FC Halifax Town side go into the game top of the National League but on the back of two disappointing results, a 0-0 draw with Chorley and a 2-0 defeat to Boreham Wood.

“We’ve dominated both games, we’ve just not taken our chances, not been ruthless enough in the final third,” said Wild.

“All our build-up play has been excellent. We just couldn’t convert that into chances in the final third.

“Teams now approach us differently and we’ve got to approach these games differently as well, especially at home.”

Halifax have failed to score in four of their last five home games.

“I’m not having sleepless nights about it,” Wild added. “We just need to be better, we just need to tweak things and change things. That’s the role of a manager, to make sure that we do things differently.

“Hopefully it will come to fruition on Saturday.

“Everything’s under review, but hopefully we’ll implement things on Saturday.”