The job’s not done yet, says Shaymen defender Senior
IT’S TYPICAL of this Town squad that Jack Senior doesn’t dwell on Halifax guaranteeing a top four finish, and instead focuses on the bigger prize.
In most other seasons in recent history, securing a top four finish in the fifth tier would probably have been seen as the absolute limit of Halifax’s ambitions.
But this season, and this squad, won’t be satisfied until they have exhausted every last breath in reaching as high as they can go.
“It’s massive but there’s still two games left, so you don’t know what can happen,” said Senior, but it’s an answer that could have come from any member of the Town squad, such is the collective focus on achieving whatever is possible.
“All season we’ve been one game at a time, two games have come round quickly over the weekend and we’re just delighted that we’ve got six points.
“It’s been two good performances. At times in both games we’ve had to dig deep and we showed both sides of our game on Monday. We played some good stuff, and we did on Saturday, but towards the end they’ve given it a right good go but we dug deep and showed why we’ve got one of the best defensive records in the league.
“It’s nice to be sitting where we are but the job’s not done yet and we’re just going to see where these next two games take us.”
Senior says there are a lot of ingredients that have put The Shaymen where they are in the table.
“The first thing I think of is a good dressing room, and it’s a great dressing room to be involved in, it’s a pleasure to come to work every day,” he said.
“We’ve got the camaraderie between us, we have a great time, but when it’s time to work, we work, and I think you can see that more often than not in most matches.
“We’ve got a resolute defence, we’ve got the desire - you can’t answer it in one question, but we’ve just got little bits of everything that are getting us where we are.
“But if you want to be critical, there are things for us to work on, and we’re constantly working.
“Once a game’s finished, we reflect on it and on what can be better in the next game. It’s just that resilience, on and off the pitch, to want to do well.
“I just love coming in every single day, we’re all tight knit, there’s no bad eggs, there’s noone upsetting the apple cart.
“Everyone’s on board with what we want to achieve. We come in and we have a laugh between us, but as soon as we get out on the pitch it’s hard work.
“Once training’s done we might have a little bit more of a laugh.
“But it’s the perfect combination of knowing what the goal is and enjoying the process while we’re at it.”
Senior, Halifax born and bred, used to watch Neil Aspin’s Town at The Shay as a kid.
“When I actually sit and think about it I don’t get too car
ried away with it, but feelings after Monday, when we’ve taken six points in three days, for a local lad, its just means that much more,” he said.
“You see the fans that are coming down, after the quick turnaround from Saturday, I’m loving every minute of it, and long may it continue. Just being a local lad, it’s just that little bit more. I’m just loving it.”
Town just missed out on the
play-offs last season, but this campaign has seen Pete Wild’s men move onto the next level and guarantee they will be in the mix for promotion.
“I think there were games last season where we might not have seen them out,” Senior said.
“We were a good team last year but we just didn’t have that little bit of resilience, just to see a game out.
“Whereas I back us more often than not when we go ahead.
“We all say between us that if it gets to 70 minutes and it’s tight, then more often than not we’ll go on and win it, so we back ourselves right to the end. I think this year we’ve just got a bit more resilience and hopefully everyone can see that.”