The Shaymen visit the Abbey Stadium just days after a hard fought 2-2 draw with Burton Albion. After racing into a 2-0 lead with goals from Jon Shaw and an own goal by Darren Stride, that man Daryl Clare thwarted their bid for three points with an equaliser deep into injury time. The result leaves Halifax Town in 14th place, some nine points behind the U's.

This season started in sluggish fashion, failure to win their first four games leaving them flailing in 19th. A 3-0 hammering of winless Droylsden sparked Wilder's boys into action and after a hard fought 2-2 draw at Oxford, Stafford and Woking were defeated with relative ease, pushing the Yorkshire outfit to the safety of 11th. Late goal specialists Torquay condemned Halifax to a Friday night 3-1 defeat before the Shaymen's last victory, 3-1 against Northwich on the 18th September.

Since then, home draws against Rushden and Burton Albion sandwiched the disastrous York defeat, Halifax throwing away a 2-0 lead to lose, to complete the Shaymen's season to date.

The Manager - This season is Chris Wilder's sixth in charge at Halifax Town, a remarkable feat considering the restraints he's had to work under. CVAs, administration, bungled takeovers and job uncertainty are all in a day's work for the 40-year-old.

Stocksbridge-born Wilder even turned down the lure of managing Cambridge United last season, which will add a little touch of spice to this weekend's meeting.

After a 15-year playing spell spanning 11 clubs, Wilder was thrust into management with Halifax Town at the age of 34, his first taste of management coming at a club in administration and relegated, with only five contracted players - quite the managerial baptism!

In his six years at the club he has seen the best and worst of the Shaymen, including leading the club to the Conference Play-Off Final, losing out 3-2 to Hereford in a thrilling game at the Walkers Stadium. On the other hand, last season relegation was avoided with just a game to spare and in 2004 Wilder oversaw an unwanted club record of ten straight defeats.

The last 12 months - Unfortunately for the Shaymen, off-the-field problems blighted last season, which almost led to the club's relegation. High hopes were expected as the club had been less than 15 minutes from promotion back to the Football League just three months earlier.

Problems began as far back as last Christmas, with plenty of 'will they or won't they?' takeover bids, which is still rumbling on as you read. The club have been granted an extension of 28 days by the Royal Courts of Justice with regards to a winding up order, which could mean the end of Halifax Town AFC should they fail to find a backer.

Back to the football, Halifax started the season as favourites to do well, yet did anything but. Only their home form kept them from dropping into the Blue Square North as Halifax lost a whole five more away games than bottom club St.Albans. A staggering 18 games were lost, meaning their excellent home form had to bail them out of trouble. Funnily enough, a win at the Abbey was their only success in the first nine games before champions Dagenham were dispatched 3-1 at the Shay.

Stop-start form frustrated the supporters, and after galling away defeats at the Daggers and York, supporters demanded changes, many calling for Wilder's head. The club were mid-table but a long way from the play-offs, and as the bottom four started picking up points, Halifax began to throw them away. In between February 24th and April 3rd they won just one game in eleven, and the club sank to 22nd, relegation beckoning. This was hard for supporters to swallow; their dreams just months earlier of a local derby with Bradford City were now replaced with potential trips to Blyth and Hucknall.

In true generous Cambridge fashion, we gave them their first win for several weeks in April [report] and that 1-0 success gave them the boost to win three of their last five games, unsurprisingly all at home.

Halifax finished the season in 16th, four points from relegated Altrincham, although the scare of the drop was still applicable as the club went into the last game of the season. A poor start to this season has already got the success-starved supporters on Wilder's back, and much improvement is needed should he wish to be manager at the Shay come the end of this season.

Ins and Outs - Wilder kept the bulk of the play-off final squad for last season, with a couple of additions, but this season decided for quite a bit of change. It was evident a lack of midfield 'bite' was a weakness from last season, so he moved quickly to re-sign midfielder Steve Bushell from Altrincham, who has spent much of the last few seasons injured. Doncaster agreed to loan fellow midfielder Anthony Griffith, and he has shone in the centre of the park, scoring two cracking goals already this season. An inspired signing was Burton's want-away striker Jon Shaw, who has notched six goals in just eight starts since leaving the Pirelli.

'Keeper Adam Legzdins also joined temporarily from Birmingham for his second spell at the Shay, the youngster starting against Burton. An injury to striker Andy Campbell prompted Wilder to sign Chesterfield's Alex Bailey on non-contract terms. Other summer incomings were Rob Scott from Macclesfield, Daryl Taylor from Tamworth and commanding defender Cortez Belle, who has Football League experience with Chester City.

Two blows for Wilder were the departure of Greg Strong and Tyrone Thompson. Strong opted for Northwich after being courted by former team-mate Neil Redfearn, whilst Thompson surprisingly signed for Crawley Town when York City had apparently done everything to capture the play-makers signature.

The Squad - Not the biggest squad in the league, but Wilder has a few quality players he believes will at least secure a play-off berth. 'Keeper Craig Mawson has recently lost his place to Legzdins, but the former Burnley stopper is some replacement to bring in. Youngster Ryan Toulson has emerged from the youth team to secure the right back position, whilst recently out of favour Greg Young has fought his way back into the side, operating on the left or in the centre. Adam Quinn is quickly becoming 'Mr Halifax Town', the current longest serving player who scored the winning header at the Abbey last season.

Captain Tom Kearney and loanee Griffith make up the centre of midfield, with tough-tackling Steve Bushell prowling the touchline should a change be needed. Striker Danny Forrest has recently being converted to play on the wing, with some success, the former Bantam one of the bright spots this season. Another former Bradford boy, Jake Wright, battles for the left wing place with recent recruit Daryl Taylor, who possesses bags of pace as well as good crossing ability. The youthful midfield is completed by Steve Torpey, who is the first former FC United of Manchester player to grace the highest level of non-league.

Somewhat fortunately for Cambridge, form striker Andy Campbell is injured and will play no part on Saturday, a blow for the Shaymen considering he'd netted five goals in his first five games, including Halifax's first Blue Square Premier hat-trick against Droylsden. Lewis Killeen and Jon Shaw should be the strike partnership, Shaw's six goals in eight starts making him virtually undroppable. Killeen is another player who has lasted the full six Blue Square Premier seasons with the Shaymen, making over 150 appearances and scoring 40 goals.

One to Watch - Steve Torpey - No, not the former Scunthorpe striker he always gets mistaken for, but the former Port Vale trainee who drifted into non-league after his release in 2002. After three seasons of pottering about in the North West, Torpey's break came when playing for the newly formed FC United of Manchester. His two wonder goals in a friendly against Halifax last summer prompted Wilder to sign the 25-year-old just days later. In an injury laden season, Torpey scored seven times last campaign, including the winner against Cambridge at the Shay. He also possesses a wicked free-kick in his armoury, as Rushden found out to their cost just a few weeks ago.

Facts, stats and connections - Halifax Town maintain a strong rivalry with Huddersfield Town, which apparently stems from the Terriers persistently voting against Halifax staying in the league during 're-elections' in the 1960's. The Shay was for many years used as a speedway track as well as a football ground.

Halifax Town's star former player is Geoff Horsfield, who has graced the Premiership with Birmingham, WBA and Sheffield United. Horsfield was sold to Fulham for a six figure fee in 1998 after his 30 goals helped the Shaymen win the Blue Square Premier.

Cambridge and Halifax have met a total of 21 times, Halifax triumphing in just six of those outings. Up until last year, the Shaymen had an atrocious record in Cambridgeshire, losing all but one of their first eight visits, including three 4-0 thrashings.

Last season Halifax dished out some much wanted revenge, goals from Mark Roberts and Adam Quinn rendering Tommy Jaszczun's super-strike pointless in a 2-1 win, Halifax's first of just three on the road last season [report].

For the first time this season, neither squad contains a 'former player' from each club, the last link between the clubs being Chris Clarke, who made one solitary appearance for Cambridge under Herve Renard. He soon returned to Halifax via York for a handful of games and is now plying his trade for Bradford Park Avenue.

Current Form -

Cambridge United - DWDWWL (5th)
Halifax Town - WLWDLD (14th)

Chris Vessey

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