TOPB1NS
English National League •31 October 2026 •KO 12:30
Halifax Town badge
Halifax Town
2:0
Yeovil Town
Yeovil Town badge
FORM
W W D L W
#8 -2
24 PTS GD: 8
PLAYED: 16
#5 0
28 PTS GD: 15
PLAYED: 16
FORM
W W L W L

FC Halifax Town 2-0 Yeovil Town

Cody Johnson ended a 25-match scoring drought with a superb free-kick as FC Halifax Town bounced back from their midweek collapse against Barrow to beat Yeovil Town 2-0 at The Shay. Will Flint added a second eight minutes later before substitute Archie Davies was sent off, leaving the Glovers to finish with 10 men and fail to score for the first time in the National League this season. Halifax manager John McGrath made four changes following Tuesday’s 3-2 defeat to Barrow, handing a debut to Lucas Houghton at right-back and bringing Will Hugill, Deniche Hill and Tommy McDermott into the starting line-up. Yeovil made a positive start, with Brett McGavin releasing Slavi Spasov in the second minute, but the forward’s effort was blocked by a recovering defender. Jack Kingdon then advanced from defence and found Spasov inside the area, although his attempted pass towards Johl Powell ran through to goalkeeper True Grant. Powell created Yeovil’s best early opportunity in the 18th minute, collecting possession inside his own half and driving past several Halifax players before Grant produced an excellent one-on-one save. Halifax responded seven minutes later when Houghton delivered from the right and Conor Carty met the cross with a first-time header, forcing Jos Barker to push the ball away. The hosts continued to threaten through Connor Douglas, who had an effort deflected over and later shot narrowly wide following a corner. Yeovil suffered a setback in the 26th minute when McGavin was unable to continue and was replaced by Davies. Ryan Jones also created an opening before half-time, weaving through the Halifax defence before shooting straight at Grant, leaving the match goalless at the interval. Halifax finally broke the deadlock in the 59th minute after Davies fouled Ben Tollitt near the edge of the penalty area. Johnson stepped up and curled a superb free-kick beyond Barker into the bottom corner, scoring his first goal since February and ending a run of 25 matches without finding the net. Yeovil almost responded immediately when Jones struck a deflected effort that Grant tipped behind for a corner. Powell then went close after latching onto a long pass from Hayden Muller, but his shot rolled narrowly wide. Halifax capitalised on those missed opportunities in the 67th minute when Tollitt combined with Shaun Hobson before driving the ball across the penalty area, where Flint arrived to turn it home from close range and double the hosts’ advantage. Yeovil’s task became considerably harder just two minutes later when Davies brought down Tollitt as the winger looked to break forward. Referee Ben Toner issued a second yellow card, leaving the visitors with 10 men for the remaining 20 minutes. Billy Rowley responded with a triple substitution, introducing Mason Obeng, Owen Dean and Loick Ayina, while McGrath brought on Tayt-Lemar Trusty, Dylan Crowe, Amari Morgan-Smith and Zak Gilsenan during the closing stages. Halifax continued to create opportunities, with Carty curling a free-kick narrowly wide in the 83rd minute and Douglas also shooting off target. Yeovil threatened from a late corner when Obeng returned the ball into the penalty area and Joe Gubbins met it with a header, but Grant gathered comfortably to preserve his clean sheet. The victory provided an immediate response to Halifax’s 3-2 defeat against Barrow, when they had surrendered a two-goal lead and conceded a stoppage-time winner. This time McGrath’s side protected their advantage, moving to 24 points from 16 National League matches. Yeovil remained on 28 points after suffering their fourth league defeat of the season, with the result ending a scoring sequence that had stretched across their opening 15 fixtures.
Edgy Eddie

TopB1ns Edge

By Edgy Eddie

Right then, let’s get stuck into this one. FC Halifax Town did the business against Yeovil Town, bagging a solid 2-0 win. The bookies had Halifax as the favourites at 2.05, which turned out to be spot on for the 1X2. However, our TopB1ns Edge was barking up the wrong tree with a Yeovil win, so that’s a bit of a “teething issue” for the model there.

On the Both Teams to Score front, the bookies fancied it at 1.57, but our TopB1ns Edge called it as ‘No’ at 2.25. Thankfully, the Edge was right on this one, as neither side found the net in the first half, and Yeovil drew a blank overall.

The Over/Under bets were a bit of a mixed bag for the TopB1ns Edge. It correctly predicted Over 0.5 and Over 1.5 goals, which both landed. But it went for Over 2.5 and Over 3.5 when the Under was the winner, and then it missed the mark on Over 4.5. Still, it’s early days for the system, and it’s showing promise, especially with that BTTS call. Needs a bit more polish, but it’s got potential, this TopB1ns Edge.