Hallam FC continued a run of five games unbeaten on Tuesday night with a 2:1 win over top of the table North Ferriby.
Despite a shaky start to the season, the Countrymen could achieve their highest finish in 17 years. Goals from Nicolantonio De Girolamo and Bradley Kerr helped secure Hallam a precious 2-1 victory against the current table-toppers.
Both goals came from set-piece flick ons, unsurprising for a game which was defined by its physicality.
Hallam could have let a penalty miss by Ollie Fearon in the 26th minute deter them, but the resilience that they have developed in the last month shone through.
When asked what got them over the line, Hallam defender Chris Salt said: “Just our willingness to all gid in for each other and I think we wanted it more than them.”
“Our confidence is growing and it’s showing.”
11 wins from their last 16 in the league is a vast improvement from three in the first 12. It’s proving to be a season of two halves for the club.
“I think we’ve got a much stronger squad now than we did at the start of the season, always the strength in depth we have. Confidence is a main factor in it also,” said Salt.
January was an important period in terms of refreshing the squad, with three players going out but four coming in. Among the four is Luca Defalco, providing more attacking depth at a level which is no stranger to frequent knocks.
Following promotion last year, from the outside it looks like the main goal of the season would have been survival. Hallam are now 7th, 15 points clear of the bottom three. The players and coaching staff won’t rest knowing that, however.
“To be honest we all set our personal goals, mine wasn’t to avoid relegation because I knew we are better than that. I think now we’re in a place that’s got teams looking at us and worrying. We’ve just got to take each game at a time now and who knows,” said Salt.
Hallam, the world’s second oldest football club, haven’t finished any higher than 6th in the NCEL Premier Division for 17 years. Even if they don’t achieve that this year, it feels like this squad can only get better and better. If there’s any local team that you should definitely be keeping an eye on, it’s Hallam.
