Football – England – Conference Premier
Friday 26th December 2014 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Gateshead will be looking to bounce back from their defeat on Saturday at Bristol Rovers 3-2 when they take on poor-travelling Halifax at the Gateshead International Stadium on Boxing Day.
Manager Gary Mills will be looking for a reaction from his side and to kick-start their season again having suffered a dip in form which has seen The Heed win just two league matches from their last ten.
Gateshead have dropped out of the play-off reckoning for the time being but they still remain just three points adrift of Woking who occupy the last remaining play-off spot. Following a run of four home matches without a win, the hosts will be banking on Halifax slipping up again on their travels today.
For the record, Gateshead’s home stats stand at 6-3-3 22/19 and they’ve recently lost to Barnet and Dover Athletic as well as draws with Lincoln City and Southport. Gateshead forward Danny Wright (6 goals) could get on the scoresheet here today.
Visitors Halifax Town have registered three wins from their last five but rather predictably, all of these wins (Alfreton Town, Forest Green Rovers and Nuneaton Town) were all recorded at The Shay.
I’ve mentioned this many times before, but despite a very good record on home turf, Halifax have really struggled away from home and this season again is no exception: four defeats from their last five on the road tells its own story, with losses at Eastleigh, Grimsby Town, Welling United and Torquay United while their overall away record stands at 3-3-6 11/14.
Along with Eastleigh, Halifax possess the worst away record out of the teams situated in the top half of the division to date.
Given Halifax’s problems with travelling outside of west Yorkshire, I’ll give the quarter ball on the hosts Gateshead to turn things around here in what could perhaps be a 1-0 win for The Heed.
Pick: Gateshead AH-0.25 @ 1.88 Bet Victor
