Tom: ‘The evidence is there that we’re a better team’
WHILE FC Halifax Town’s flowing football has caught the eye this season, it has been built on a rock solid foundation of defensive stability.
The statistics speak for themselves: only five teams in the top five divisions of English football have conceded fewer goals this season than Halifax, no team in the National League has conceded fewer goals than them this season and they have kept nine clean sheets in 16 games, including eight in their last ten games.
Tom Bradbury has certainly played his part in Town’s outstanding defensive record, helping The Shaymen to six of those clean sheets in his 13 appearances this season.
“I’m very pleased, obviously having the joint best defensive record in the league looks good on us defenders, and we’ve got quite a lot of clean sheets as well, which shows we’re doing well,” he said. “I’m very happy, and long may it continue.”
When asked what he puts Town’s watertight defence down to, Bradbury said: “I think the main thing is the security behind the ball, the coaches at the club work on it a lot and it’s making sure that, for example, when our strikers have the ball, previously we might ball watch and hope they score, but now I’m not even watching the ball, I’m looking at the people I’m marking, the space they could potentially run into, where’s the right winger, where’s the left winger, where’s the number ten, are we two v two at the back or are we three v two with a man in our favour.
“That’s playing a huge part because as soon as the ball gets kicked out and comes back to us, we’re three against two, we’ve got an extra man on the cover and we’re sniffing out attacks before they even start.”
The Shaymen’s free-flowing football has earned them plenty of points this season, but so has their resolute defending, as seen in particularly hard-fought wins over Dagenham and Redbridge, Pontefract Collieries, Aldershot. and Woking.
“They’re my favourite games!” said Bradbury.
“They’re horrible to play in but as soon as that final whistle goes it’s such a good feeling.
“Obviously a 1-0 puts a bit more emphasis on the defence rather than a 3-0, so I do enjoy them. But we’ve shown a few times that we can dig in and defend this year when maybe last year we might have shipped a goal or two and not got the three points. So there’s a difference in mentality, these clean sheets are just breeding confidence and when you go under the cosh, you cling onto those experiences and think ‘we’ve done it before, let’s do it again’.”
Bradbury feels he has improved as a player from last season.
“I think so yeah, it’s more organising what’s in-front of me when we’re in possession,” he said. “I think maybe last year with us playing three at the back and me having more of an offensive role in the team and having to join in with attacks going forward, maybe we didn’t focus on the threats and dangers that can happen when the ball gets turned over in transition, when the other team wins the ball.
“This year we’re not getting counter-attacked on because I’m sorting out men in-front of me and making sure we’ve got enough numbers in the right areas to stop that. So I’d say I’ve improved in that aspect and it’s showing with the clean sheets.”
And the defender feels Town have taken things to the next level this season too.
“I think we’re just under two points a game, and if you get two points a game, that not only gets you promoted but it wins you the league,” he said.
“The evidence is there that we’re a better team and I think that’s through the core of the squad. You’ve got the keeper, the two centre-halves and the two midfielders who were all here last year, so we’ve kept the core and we’ve added brilliance around it. Most of the lads have known what Pete wants and had one or two seasons to learn it, and maybe this year is when we’ve learned the ideas and putting them into practice, and delivering on all the hard work that goes in off the pitch.”
ONLINE: www.halifaxcourier. co.uk