Shoot-out

Can you guess which team just won the penalty shoot-out?

It had been a tense afternoon at the Shay as FC Halifax Town hosted Salford City in the second leg of the National League North Play-off semi-final. It was 1-1 from the first leg earlier in the week and 0-0 after 90 minutes today so extra time ensued. The first period saw Halifax take the lead amid much celebration, then Salford equalised and despite a few scrambles it remained 1-1; 2-2 on aggregate and so penalties.

And it was the most one-sided penalty shoot-out I've seen with Salford having their first saved and their next two sent over the bar. Halifax's Matty Brown had the honour of winning the tie, much to the delight of his team-mates who pursued him down the pitch (extras) just before they got swallowed up by the pitch invasion. So next Saturday they'll be at it again in the final, having earned a home time against Chorley to see who will gain promotion to the National League.

As I write the West Yorkshire joy has extended to Bradford City who have also won their play-off semi-final, earning a Wembley tie against Millwall in a fortnight to see which of the two gets promoted to the Championship. But commiserations to the Blackburn Rovers branch of the family who will be passing the winners of that match on the way down, their relegation to League One being confirmed today despite finishing with a good win.

Any other day I would have been leading with my first Small Copper of the year or my best Orange-tip photo of the year (extras) which came from a speculative walk up the hill behind the station in Halifax in advance of the match.  There will be plenty more butterflies to come though.

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Butterfly Journal 2017

13. 07/05/17 Small Copper. Old Bank, Halifax.