Craig Midgely's second goal from the penalty spot in two games was enough to give the Shaymen victory over a lively York side at the Shay.

It was always going to be a tough one for Chris Wilder's team who were without five of the players who featured in Saturday's game at Forest Green.Injuries to Gary Brabin, Steve Haslam, Greg Young and Peter Atherton forced Wilder to assemble a makeshift back line, including youngster Ryan Toulson and Adam Quinn, who has been short of match practice so far this term after being sidelined by a serious throat infection.

Halifax registered the first effort on goal after 6 minutes when Craig Midgely did well to set up John Grant on the edge of the box.However, the striker's right foot shot flew narrowly over the bar.York had similar difficulty in hitting the target when Emmanuel Panther's 35 yard drive sailed high into the South Stand after a quarter of an hour.

Five minutes later Grant almost gave the visitors the advantage when his defensive header went narrowly wide of Ian Dunbavin's left hand post.Straight after this York thought that had taken the lead Andy Bishop spectacularly volleyed home Daren Dunning's pinpoint cross.To the relief of the Shay faithful, Bishop was adjudged to have been off side and his goal didn't count.

Neither side managed create a great deal and as the half came to a close it was a refeering decision, rather than the football, that caused the greatest reaction amongst the crowd.Grant was clumsily brought down by Nathan Peat as he powered his way into the box.Despite the forward being clearly impeded, Town's penalty appeals were turned away by the referee.

The Shaymen showed a little more purpose in the opening stages of the second half with the most notable effort coming from Martin Foster.His low 40 yard drive had City keeper Chris Porter at full stretch.Then on the hour markRyan Sugden headed wide after Midgely's worked his way past Bishop and fired in a dangerous cross.The next Halifax attack saw them take the lead.Grant was again causing problems with his strong running and was pulled down just inside the box by Mark Hotte.This time around the referee didn't contest the penalty claims and pointed straight to the spot.Up stepped Midgley to convincingly convert, driving the ball hard and low into the bottom right hand corner ofPorter's goal.

As the game came to a close Town had work hard to hold onto the points. Dunbavin did well to save and hold Bishop's close range effort and both Clayton Donaldson & David McGurk spurned good scoring opportunities.

There was a sigh of relief from the home fans when the final whistle was blown and no doubt an element of disappointment amongst the York contingent.Chris Wilder acknowledged this when he said after the game 'We were fortunate but we have been unfortunate in the past. Sometimes you don't get what you deserve and York might feel like that today, it is the biggest result in my time at the Shay"

Whilst the performance may not have been the best at this stage in the season points are the important thing and with 7 taken from 9 at the Shay so far, this can only help build confidence amongst the team. Town are putting together a solid start there is every reason to feel positive about 2005/06 campaign.

1	Ian Dunbavin			:			Chris Porter	1
12	Ryan Toulson			:			Jamie Price	2
5	Adam Quinn			:			David McGurk	5
6	Denny Ingram			:			Mark Hotte	4
3	Matthew Doughty			:			Nathan Peat	3
10	Lewis Killeen			:	65		Mark Convery	7
8	Martin Foster			:			Emmanuel Panther	8
18	Tyrone Thompson			:	62		Darren Dunning	12
7	Craig Midgley		78	:			Joe O'Neill	10
11	Ryan Sugden		87	:			Clayton Donaldson	9
20	John Grant			:			Andy Bishop	11
24	Lee Butler			:			James Dudgeon	6
14	Brenton Leister		78	:	65		Bryan Stewart	18
23	Justin Bowler			:	62		Levent Yalcin	14
17	Wayne Jacobs		87	:			Farhad Afandjyev	26
15	Chris Senior			:			Dave Merris	15

Goal Attempts	9	:	16	Goal Attempts
On Target	4	:	8	On Target
Crosses	3	:	5	Crosses
Corners	2	:	10	Corners
Offside	3	:	3	Offside
Fouls	14	:	10	Fouls
Free kicks	11	:	17	Free kicks
Yellow cards	-	:	1	Yellow cards
Red cards	-	:	-	Red cards
% Possession	44	:	56	Possession %