Solihull Moors v FC Halifax Town: No excuses as Shaymen get 'rough end of deal' in National League play-off fiasco

On Saturday, the Shaymen rounded off a week which saw them play away from their home on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by beating Eastleigh 3-0 to book a play-off spot.

The analysis work started on the long bus journey home, only for Gateshead to be thrown out of the play-offs the next day because they could not provide a 10-year guarantee on primary tenure for their council-owned athletics stadium ground – which some Football League clubs cannot do.

Initially it was announced Halifax's game at Altrinchman would go ahead as planned, only for the National League to backtrack and give a bye to Altrincham, rather than Gateshead's scheduled opponents Solihull Moors, who finished lower and now host Halifax.

"I'm disappointed for Gateshead, I think they've really worked hard this season, they've contributed a lot to the league season and to be unable to compete for the prize we're all chasing is an incredibly disappointing outcome for them and the integrity of the competition," said Millington.

"Altrincham get a bye and the extra day to prepare for the game at the weekend, as do Bromley.

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"We have to travel down to Solihull and we'll have less fans than we would at Altrincham.

"And then we only get a couple of days' turnaround before we have to play at the weekend if we're successful.

"So it's just typical isn't it? We're on the rough end of the deal, but we've proved in the last couple of weeks it just serves to make us stronger, more committed and more determined.

"There's no way we're going to let this opportunity slip by being under-prepared. There's a no regrets, no excuses attitude.

"We like playing at Solihull, we've performed well there in the last couple of seasons."

Solihull supported Altrincham getting the bye but criticised the league for ignoring its rule about leaving at least three full days between play-off matches.

The winners of Wednesday's tie are at Barnet for Saturday's semi-final. The final is on May 4.