I think I was the only person who, on setting out for Halifax, was prepared to settle for a win and nothing less; everybody else said that they would be happy with a draw.

Coming home after a dull 0-0 I was still disappointed that we didn’t take all three points but a clean sheet away from home can’t be argued with.  One thing that mark Yates seems to have instilled in the team is a steeliness that makes us hard to break down and beat; even in the games that we have lost since he took over, against Grays and Carlisle, it has taken late, late, goals to beat  us.

So, we are now four games unbeaten in the Conference which seems like our best run of results for ages but is, in fact, not even our best sequence of the season.  That actually happened in August and September when three draws and two wins gave us a five-game run.

It was good to go back to The Shay, if only to see whether or not they had finished the redevelopments.  They hadn’t.  The only improvement I could see was that a pile of empty cardboard boxes at the top of the unfinished stand had been removed after sitting there for a couple of years.  Despite the unfinished main stand The Shay is still an impressive stadium with what must be two of the biggest terraces still in use anywhere in the country.

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When the fixtures come out in June one of the first ones we looked for was Halifax Town away, a trip that was sorely missed while we were in the Football League and they were in the Conference.

On our very first visit we were warned off going in the pub on the corner of the ground, also called The Shay, described by one of the locals as “a kennel”.  Instead we were sent to The Three Pigeons a little further up the road and were immediately struck by what a great old-fashioned pub it is.  That view still stands to this day, although some of us have not been in it for some time.  Apparently there was a good selection of Timothy Taylor and Osset Brewery beers on this latest visit.

Some years ago we discovered another pub that is even better within easy walking distance of the ground – The Shears.  Dating back to 1664, according to the sign on the wall, it is a warm and welcoming pub at the bottom of a cobbled street in between the mills.

Not many people know where to find it although we did encounter another group of four Harriers fans.  Timothy Taylor was also in evidence here, in years past they had the full set of Taylor beers along the bar, but now it is joined by Copper Dragon brewery from Skipton.  There were still three Taylor beers and along with two from Copper Dragon there was an enticing challenge for the beer drinkers in the party to try one of each.  Unfortunately, for the cider drinker there was only Strongbow whereas on previous visits there had been a much nicer Bulmer’s Original.  The challenge was taken up and completed in impressive style, we even made it back to the ground in time to get a programme and see kick-off.

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Well, after praising the board for holding onto our best players it seems that I was a little premature.

First we saw Wayne Hatswell leave for Rushden, to be replaced by a short-term signing in Jonny Harkness, fortunately he looks to be a decent signing and he’s now been signed on for the rest of the season. After first appearing to scare clubs off with a £50000 price tag on Iyseden Christie they’ve now let him go, along with Mark Jackson – which is almost as bad in my view – to Rochdale for £35000. That’s £35000 for the pair, 20 grand for Christie and 15 for Jackson. We was robbed to say the least!

Admittedly it’s money in the bank now when they could have left for nothing in the summer, but surely they could have got more; £35000 each wouldn’t have been amiss. Let’s face it we flogged Matt Lewis for £5000 and Scott Rickards for £10000 and they were both crap.

Not only have they flogged off the family jewels on the cheap but they did it at such a late stage that Mark Yates was unable to re-invest any of it in team building. Months ago, when Stuart Watkiss was in charge, they said that there would be substantial funds available during the transfer window. When Yates took over they said that there would be substantial funds available during the transfer window. They sold Hatswell, they got Martin O’Connor off the wage bill, they sold Christie and Jackson and they had an unexpected run in the LDV Vans Trophy, raising even more substantial funds. They signed Harkness, now until the end of the season, but he was unattached and won’t be getting paid much; they signed Francino Francis on work experience, they won’t be paying him much if anything; they signed Junior Osborne on loan for the rest of the season, and again probably won’t be paying much, if any, of his wages. Paul Smith probably isn’t going to getting paid to the levels of Jackson, Christie or Hatswell and he’s only here until the end of the season, likewise Andy White who’s here for a month. Jake Sedgemore’s probably relatively cheap but at least he’s here until the end of next season. At the rate that they’re going he’ll be playing on his own.

We’re now left with a squad of waifs and strays, nobody with any Harriers roots; John Danby is now the longest serving player in the squad and with the most appearances. We have no captain and as experienced options go as replacement only Daryl Burgess or the disappointing Terry Fleming to choose from. In a squad of 22 four players are not actually ours, one is out on loan, there is only one who is contracted past the end of the season, the only out-and-out striker on the books who is ours is Mitch Butler who has yet to make a first team appearance.  There are four teenagers and six 20-year-olds and only seven over the age of 25.  Half of the squad have played less than ten times and the three with the most appearances – John Danby (70), Simon Russell (52) and Johnny Mullins (38) – are all 22 or under and one, Mullins, does not even belong to us.

Things are looking a bit grim now.

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