Halifax Town 3 Grays Athletic 2

Departing club captain Steve Bushell proved the inspiration in Halifax's play-off first leg with a stunning farewell gift.

Bushell, who is to quit the Shaymen at the end of the season, bent a brilliant free-kick into the top corner to give his side the lead.

It was the perfect leaving present and when Ryan Sugden headed home Matt Doughty's cross and Lewis Killeen buried his finish under the dive of keeper Ashley Bayes, Chris Wilder's men were dreaming of the final.

At 3-0 with just over half an hour gone, Halifax could have hit four or five but two defensive errors after the break proved their downfall.

Keeper Jon Kennedy was beaten to Glenn Poole's free-kick, allowing Dennis Oli to flick a header past him, and Oli was on target again when Adam Quinn failed to clear, leaving Kennedy stranded with a sublime lob.

Bushell was struck in the face when his own shot rebounded off a defender and he was forced to leave the field suffering double vision.

That could be his last appearance as he is struggling to be fit for Wednesday night's decider.

"I have had some great times at the Shay and it was great to score a goal as good as that," said Bushell.

"At 3-0 we were in dreamland but they came back strongly and made a real game of it."

Best efforts NWC LEAGUE: Cammell Laird's bid for the Division One title and the promotion to the UniBond League that comes with it is still on despite Silsden's best efforts to derail their rivals. The Merseyside outfit took all the points courtesy of a single goal. With both sides adopting a 5-3-2 formation, they cancelled each other out most of the time but the visitors had a momentary lapse. A cross just after the half-hour mark found Ian Cook unmarked and the striker headed past Martin Foulger. That must have given Laird a feeling of revenge after Silsden took all six points off them as the pair were promoted together last season, the Merseysiders taking the Division Two title and Silsden finishing as runners-up. Silsden boss Andy Geary said: "It was not a bad result as it happens because they are a good team and we had a few players that pulled out late due to injury. The way we conceded the goal was annoying but overall we worked hard and that meant we restricted them. I think they now need two wins out of their last five games to win the league."