FC Halifax v York City: Pivotal April in store for Yorkshire rivals - for contrasting reasons in National League

While York City’s quest to stave off the drop has been aided by a magnificent win against champions Chesterfield – which followed a splendid away day at Bromley – Halifax Town’s fine recent form hit the buffers when they suffered a narrow and controversial loss at Hartlepool United.

The Shaymen’s setback was just their second in nine matches, which has featured seven victories.

While manager Chris Millington was angered that his side were not awarded two penalties, he acknowledged that Town had an ‘off day’ and they will need to avoid a repeat on Monday.

April is now where its at for both these White Rose sides, with play-off chasing Town fitting in six games in 20 days, including four home appointments.

York, who have now won three matches on the spin, have given themselves breathing space in their survival quest, but their mission is not yet complete.

Minstermen chief Adam Hinshelwood said: “We’ve got to show the same level of intensity to our play again.

"We’ve shown togetherness and really dug in, but we are not in a position to give up on any minute at the moment and we’ll keep on fighting."

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In-form Halifax winger Andrew Oluwabori, who surprisingly started from the bench at Hartlepool, remains a potential trump card for Town on their own patch.

"Without going into too much detail, it was the right thing to do for the (Hartlepool) game," Millington confirmed.