The travelling 842 Halifax fans witnessed a second successive promotion from their team, with five games to spare, who grabbed two first half goals at Cannon Park courtesy of Danny Holland and Liam Hogan.
The Shaymen only needed a point from the match to secure the Evo-Stik League Title, but they did it in style clinching all three points from the Badgers. The match was slow to get started with the pitch proving as difficult as the last time Town visited this ground. There were few chances to record until Scott Phelan blasted a shot to the right of the goal, which stung the palms of Retford's keeper David Darwent. Jamie Vardy used his lightning pace to break free from the poor Retford defence, but his shot was somewhat feeble and didn't trouble the keeper. Consequently, this provoked more chances for the Shaymen and it wasn't long before Danny Holland slotted home neatly after beating an attempted offside trap from Retford.
Simon Garner, Lee Gregory and Tom Baker had further efforts on target before Liam Hogan headed home from a Simon Garner corner. Town were looking comfortable at 2-0 up going into half time against the team at the foot of the table.
The pitch proved evermore difficult to play on, with the ball bouncing about all over the place from the slightest of touches. Town managed to deal with it just about and had plenty more shots on target in the second half, and could have made it 5 or 6-0 if it wasn't for an inspiring performance from Darwent. Jamie Vardy and Lee Gregory both saw their shots saved from the Retford keeper as Halifax looked to really finish the game off, with Scott Hogan coming on in place of Gregory and forcing a fine save from an in form Darwent. The added bonus of Retford having no shots on or off target and no corners all afternoon shows the strength in our defence we've had all season and really finished the season off in style.
The sound of the final whistle sparked wild celebrations from the travelling Town fans; many of them falling over the barrier in order to congratulate their team. The chant "we want our champions" resounded around Cannon Park, resulting in the team re-entering the pitch to join in the celebrations with their fans. Celebrations which I'm sure will carry on until our next game, which is away at Whitby on Wednesday night. A truly inspiring result for all concerned and the Shaymen will be enjoying Conference North football next season.
Attendance: 842
Shots On Target: 9
Shots Off Target: 4
Corners: 5
Man of the Match: Danny Holland
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