Town goalkeeper Davison-Hale not playing second-fiddle without a fight
TRY TELLING Harrison Davison-Hale he has to settle for being back-up keeper at FC Halifax Town.
The 20-year-old accepts he is understudy to Sam Johnson, but isn’t playing second-fiddle without a fight.
Davison-Hale is yet to make his competitive debut for Town, and is the latest in a long line of second-choice stoppers to Johnson, who is the club’s established number one.
But that isn’t stopping the former Huddersfield keeper trying to oust Johnson from between the sticks.
“I’ve accepted when I came here that Pete (Wild) was like ‘you’re going to be second choice but it’s up to you to fight for that spot’, which I have been doing since the start of the season,” he said. “From the start of the season to now I’ve progressed in training so much. It’s been halfa-year and I’ve probably progressed more in that time than I did at Huddersfield for two years, just down to the coaching and being in the first-team environment. I’m still young but I’m hungry and I won’t stop training as hard as I can and putting 100 per cent into it to get a firstteam spot.”
When asked where he feels he has improved since joining Town, Davison-Hale said: “Everything from the basics to my kicking - my kicking’s been hit and miss. I couldn’t kick a ball to save my life when I was 15, 16, I’d just shell it 70 yards and that was it. I couldn’t hit the wingers like I could now, or pinpoint a man on his head. But going out with Pogs (Paul Oakes, goalkeeping coach) every morning before the lads come in, keep practicing and practicing, it’s been great.
“I know I’m going to be on the bench but then it’s up to me at the end of the day to show it in training. I have dropped down to a couple of under-23s games and Pete and Milly have come to watch, which is good. I don’t expect them to be there but if they are it’s a bonus because I can show them what I can do.
It’s a decent league, it’s tough in different aspects, very physical. But I definitely, definitely can fight for that spot and I’m in a good position in myself to do that.”
And Davison-Hale says playing at National League level wouldn’t faze him, if and when the opportunity arrives.
“Not at all, no. I’m a pretty confident character in myself, and I’m confident in my training that I’ve been doing so far,” he said. “They always say as a second-choice keeper you’ve got to be ready, and then take your chance when it comes.”
I’m confident in my training that I’ve been doing so far