Andy Peaks had set his side up at The Shay looking for their first league victory in the 2026-27 campaign and after utilising his squad in the midweek home victory in the National League Cup and with Joe Rye suspended following his red card against Fylde, Tom Parkes and Ricky Calder lined up for their first league starts of the season.

But it turned out to be a fruitless and pointless trip to West Yorkshire for the Enterprise National League fixture.
With the whole league schedule kicking off at 12.30pm it had required an overnight stop for the players and an early start for the travelling faithful, with the opportunity to watch live on DAZN for those that couldn’t make it.

The Shaymen came into the tie without a win in two in the league, and manager John McGrath was a face not unknown to Lambs fans as he had made his Tamworth debut some two decades previously in the 2006-7 season, under Mark Cooper in the then Confrence National.
At the time, in midfield, he was a firm fans-favourite before he moved to pastures new and arrived as boss at Halifax in May 2026.

And so with lunchtime on the horizon the players took to the field and The Lambs got the game underway.
The early spell of home pressure nearly paid off on 6 minutes when Zak Gilsenan crossed from the right and a deflection off Conor Carty took it across the face of goal, and with Jas Singh on the floor after anticipating the strike, the ball rebounded back to the keeper.
At the other end, The Lambs first attack nearly bore fruit but Calder’s low cross from the left couldn’t be directed on target by Keiren Donnelly, stealing in between the home defence to get a touch, and the ball went wide of the far post.
Calder sent a similar cross in on 12 minutes which forced Halifax to be on their mettle, and Teo Kurtaran’s deep ball into the back of the box a minute later saw Jordan Cullinane-Liburd headed towards but ultimately over the target.
Tamworth then forced a couple of corners in quick succession, keeping the home side penned back, and Will Hugill was booked for a late challenge on Tom Parkes who found himself high in the final third.
But The Lambs transpired to create their own problems in the 19th minute when Nathan Tshikuna’s pass went into no-mans land and Carty took time to take the ball into the area and fire past Singh from 12 yards (1-0, 19 mins)
The referee then showed two cards in quick succession as Luke Fairlamb and Cody Johnson put their bodies in the way of opposition advancement.
Tyler Lyttle looked to be struggling before going to ground and was deemed unable to continue so was replaced by Oliver Dyson on 34 minutes.
Halifax almost notched their second on 37 minutes in similar unexpected circumstances to the first, when Cullinane-Liburd’s back pass to Singh put him under pressure and his clearance rebounded off Gilsenan before going back to the keeper.
True Grant in the Shaymen’s goal couldn’t get to a Fairlamb cross on 40 minutes, but neither could Donnelly, but the keeper was able to get to a threaded pass from Morgan Robert’s which set Donnelly in a darting run into the box a minute later.
However, Singh was unable to stop Gilsenan’s 42nd minute strike from 18 yards after he had skipped around the Lambs defence and feigned a move with a dropped shoulder to open up space for a free strike past Tamworth’s exposed keeper. (2-0, 42 mins)
And Gilsenan struck his second three minutes later, robbing Kurtaran 30 yards out, before advancing and turning on the edge of the box to set himself up with a low strike past Singh into the bottom right (3-0, 45 mins)
Calder had The Lambs best and closest chance of the first half in added time, driving a right footed strike from the edge of the box which Grant had to make sure of by tipping over shortly before the half time whistle blew.

HT: 3-0

With a mountain to climb in the second half, Peaks made changes in defence and midfield, dropping Calder into left back, before the home side got the game back underway.
But that struggle got even harder when, on 49 minutes, Ben Tollitt was given time and space to pick his spot from 30 yards and he fired low into the bottom left corner (4-0, 49 mins)
With goals a must, Dan Creaney came on for Tshikuna with an hour gone and he got his boot to a centre from Morgan Roberts on 66, turning his shot against the far post before it was scrambled away.
After good work from Ben Acquaye on 68 minutes to pull the ball back, TJ Bramble found himself in the area with a prime chance for a strike at goal but he could only put it into the large empty terracing behind Grant and from a corner soon after he tried an acrobatic overhead kick but that dropped on top of the net.
It was third time lucky for Bramble though, picking his spot perfectly from 18 yards off Parkes’ cushioned pass to find the top right corner and reduce the arrears but it turned out to be nothing more than consolation (4-1, 76 mins)
Parkes got his head in the way of a placed shot from Hugill on 82 minutes to deny the home side a fifth and Singh smothered Arian Allen’s angled strike with a minute of normal time remaining before full time blew on a in a game that the travelling faithful will quickly want to be forgotten.
Tamworth are next in action at the HD Ricketts Community Stadium at The Lamb on Friday evening when Worthing visit for a 7.45pm kick off and will be looking for a quick turnaround in fortunes against one of the league’s newcomers.

FC Halifax Town
Grant, Bardell, Flint, Hobson, Conte, Hugill, Johnson (c.), Tollett (Allen 66), Gilsenan (Trusty 86), Douglas (Crowe 86), Carty (Morgan-Smith 75)
Subs:
YC: Hugill 17, Johson 23

Tamworth
Singh (c.); Lyttle (Dyson 34), Parkes, Cullinane-Liburd, Fairlamb (Acquaye HT); Calder, Kurtaran (Milnes HT), Bramble, Roberts; Tshikuna (Creaney 60); Donnelly
Subs:
YC: Fairlamb 21

Referee: Paul Marsden

Attendance: 1175 (94 from Tamworth)