HARROGATE RAILWAY 2 WARRINGTON TOWN 1
TEAM NEWS: Rail made 2 changes to the side that narrowly lost out to Mossley. Tom Jackson replaced James Nettleton and Andy Jackson replaced Ben Jones who picked up a slight knock on Saturday. Also the good news was that Liam Gray was on the bench after a bout of sickness.
Rail started brightly and with virtually their first attack were awarded a penalty. A ball in from the right was misjudged by the defender and as Paul Stansfield went for the loose ball the defender pushed Paul down to the ground. The referee pointed straight to the spot. With our regular penalty taker on the bench it was up to captain for the day Paul Stansfield to take the kick. Paul stepped up and dispatched the ball low past the keeper’s right and into the back of the net.
HARROGATE RAILWAY 1 WARRINGTON TOWN 0 (1min)
Warrington had already got off to a bad start and things got worse six minutes later as Rail doubled their lead. Their defence was all over the place and had struggled to keep Rail at bay when a worked move down on our left ending with Scott Driscoll putting in a superb far post cross onto the head of Aaron Hollingdrake. Aaron rose well and his looping header evaded the keeper’s outstretched hand and ended up in the back of the net.
HARROGATE RAILWAY 2 WARRINGTON TOWN 0 (7mins)
Warrington were having all sorts of problems at the back with Scott and Paul running at them at will. They seemed to have no answer to Rail’s onslaught and really should have finished the game off. Our visitor’s real first chance came on the 20th minute as the attacker found a small amount of space in our area but Manny was alert to the danger and managed to divert the shot out for a corner. Danny Toone was finding Scott Driscoll a bit of a handful to cope with and he earned himself a booking as Scott went round him with ease as he pulled him back. Shortly after Chris Jenkinson also found himself in the book for the same type of offence as the attacker got on the wrong side of him. From the resulting free-kick Warrington made inroads into our area and Gavin Salmon found space on our left who then put in a low cross to Chris Gahgan at the far post who converted from close in.
HARROGATE RAILWAY 2 WARRINGTON TOWN 1 (26mins)
The game seemed to calm down a bit after a good opening half hour as both teams seemed to cancel each other out until the half-time interval.
HALF-TIME: HARROGATE RAILWAY 2 WARRINGTON TOWN 1
The second-half didn’t start too brightly for Rail as Phil Sharpe was forced into making a change with Tom Jackson having to come off and being replaced by Liam Gray. Warrington were getting the better of things and didn’t look as shaky as in the first. Their passing was a lot better and there seemed to be a little bit more urgency as they pressed forward for an equaliser. Despite their possession they couldn’t create any real cut chances as Rail held firm.
Rail weren’t finding it as easy as the first-half as they struggled to mount any sort of attack. The middle of the second-half seemed to be littered with lots of changes as first Warrington brought on Tom Rutter for Richard Chetcuti then Rail’s Steve Palfrey came on for Kevin Ryan. With both teams playing the offside trip there seemed to be very little flow to the game which in the long run probably suited Rail as Warrington were chasing the game. Rail fans had their hearts in their mouths as there was an almighty scramble in the goalmouth but Manny came to the rescue with a good reflex save. On came two more changes for Warrington with Levi Kennedy and Sam Finley replacing Danny Toone and Mike O’Donnell. With time running out Warrington kept pushing forward and with only moments remaining Rail’s offside trap failed. A through ball wasn’t intercepted as the Rail defence hesitated and the player advanced down our left. He sent in a low cross to the near post and was met by the Warrington forward. His first time shot seemed destined for the net but Manny again came to our rescue and pulled off a marvellous match winning save. With frustration setting in substitute Sam Finley was the third player of the evening to find himself in the referee’s notebook for dissent. Four minutes of injury time were indicated but Rail held out until the final whistle for another well earned 3 points.
FULL-TIME: HARROGATE RAILWAY 2 WARRINGTON TOWN 1
BOOKINGS: CHRIS JENKINSON (Rail) DANNY TOONE & SAM FINLEY (Warrington)
ATTENDANCE: 76
RAIL MAN OF THE MATCH: SCOTT DRISCOLL
PLAYERS MARK OUT OF 10:
James Mann – 7
Dan Thirkell – 7
Tom Jackson – 7
Nicky Darker – 7
Dan Verity – 7
Chris Jenkinson – 7
Andy Jackson – 7
Paul Stansfield – 8
Kevin Ryan – 7
Aaron Hollingdrake – 7
Scott Driscoll – 8
SUBS: Liam Gray – 7, Steve Palfrey - 7
