Rail finish the season of in style as they win 4-2 at Radcliffe Borough

RADCLIFFE BOROUGH 2 HARROGATE RAILWAY 4

TEAM NEWS: Phil decided to make three changes to the side that were victorious against Curzon Ashton the previous Monday. In came Dan Verity, Chris Jenkinson and Andy Jackson who replaced Tom Hesketh, Simon Parkes and Kevin Ryan who all did such a wonderful job against Curzon.

On a lovely sunny Spring afternoon with neither side with nothing to play for except for pride the spectators were hoping to turn up and see an entertaining game. The few that did turn up were not left disappointed. The game was pretty open as both sides were trying to take an early lead. Rail came close on 10 minutes as a Steve Ball’s free-kick from outside the area was well saved by James Field in goal. It wasn’t long after that the keeper was in action again but unfortunately this time he wasn’t as fortunate. Good work by Ben Jones on our left led to him crossing the ball low into the area to the far post where Dan Thirkell was waiting to power a shot high into the net despite the efforts of the keeper.

RADCLIFFE BOROUGH 0 HARROGATE RAILWAY 1 (12mins)

Moments later Radcliffe nearly levelled. It took a good save by Manny and then a brilliant header off the line by James Nettleton to keep Rail in front. It then went to the other end and this time it was the turn of Steve Palfrey to be unlucky. A great through ball down the middle found Steve in on goal. The keeper raced out to meet Steve and as he shot he managed to get a hand on it. Unfortunately, the keeper had come out of his area too much and Rail were awarded a free-kick and a yellow card was shown to James Field. From the free-kick it was again Steve Ball who stepped up to take it. This time it was Bally’s turn to be unlucky as his shot cannoned of the post and out for a goal-kick. Back to the other end as Radcliffe strived to get back in the game. One shot whistled past the post but Rail didn’t heed the warning and moments later Radcliffe found themselves on  level terms. A ball through the middle caused confusion in our area as Manny came out. He managed to usher the player out wide but the danger wasn’t over as the Radcliffe attacker squared it to Mark Jones on the edge of the area. Rail didn’t have time to close him down and he curled it wide of Manny and into the back of the net.

RADCLIFFE BOROUGH 1 HARROGATE RAILWAY 1 (29mins)

Rail had hardly had time to draw breathe as Radcliffe drove forward straight from the kick-off and nearly took the lead as Manny came to the rescue with a brilliant save. It was all Radcliffe at this time and they again nearly scored as a through ball caught the Rail defence out. The attacker was through on goal but Manny once again thwarted Radcliffe with another good save. Rail were lucky not to find themselves behind after they had made a good start but on Rails next attack they retook the lead. A good ball came in from our right which found Scott Driscoll with his back to goal. He turned brilliantly and hit a sweet low shot past the keeper from the edge of the area to mark his eighteenth birthday.

RADCLIFFE BOROUGH 1 HARROGATE RAILWAY 2 (36mins)

A minute later in this all action encounter Radcliffe went to the other end and unfortunately they found Manny in unbeatable form as he came to Rail’s rescue once again with another good save. Rail fans had hardly time to hold their breath as Rail went to the other end and increased their lead. Another ball through the middle nearly caught the Radcliffe defence out as the defender intercepted the ball. For one vital second the defender hesitated and Steve Palfrey nipped in and took the ball off him and finished well past the advancing keeper.

RADCLIFFE BOROUGH 1 HARROGATE RAILWAY 3 (39mins)

From Rail nearly being three-one down themselves they had turned things around and they found themselves three-one up at the half-time interval.

HALF-TIME: RADCLIFFE BOROUGH 1 HARROGATE RAILWAY 3

Radcliffe made a half-time change as Matt Carlisle came on for Shaun Connor but unfortunately that made little difference as Rail made a bright start to the second-half and it wasn’t long before Rail had increased their lead to three. Liam Gray who had worked hard in the centre of midfield all afternoon pressurised and took the ball of the Radcliffe player in the middle of the park and delivered a great through ball to Ben Jones. Despite the offside appeals Ben advanced forward and chipped the ball over the oncoming keeper and into the back of the net.

RADCLIFFE BOROUGH 1 HARROGATE RAILWAY 4 (51mins)

Two minutes later Radcliffe were back in the game again. A good move down our right found Mark Jones just inside our penalty area and again before our defence could close him down he placed another shot past Manny and into the far side of the net.

RADCLIFFE BOROUGH 2 HARROGATE RAILWAY 4 (53mins)

The game seemed to die down a little but that was understandable as both teams were going hard at it under a hot sun all afternoon. This meant substitutions being made as Radcliffe made their second of the afternoon with Tom Brooks replacing Eddie Stanford. Scott Driscoll then injured himself making a clumsy challenge and earned himself a yellow card and eventually had to go off but not before Liam Gray had to be replaced by Tom Jackson. With Scott limping Phil decided to bring him off and bring on assistant manager Nigel Danby. This meant we had a midfield consisting of Tom and Andy Jackson, Dan Thirkell and Ben Jones with Nigel joining Steve Palfrey upfront. With Radcliffe chasing the game they decided to bring on their last sub with Ben Manning coming on for Martyn Forrest. They made little impression on a very tight and hard working Rail defence as they tried to make a late surge to get something out of the game. Nigel Danby had hardly been on the pitch when he was shown a yellow card for a trip on the halfway line and worse was to follow for Rail. With only 20 minutes remaining Ben Jones pulled up on the halfway line and had to be helped off the pitch. With only 2 subs on the bench that meant we had to play with only 10 men for the remaining minutes. Radcliffe did have another chance but they came up against Manny again and in the closing minutes Steve Palfrey had chances to grab himself a hat-trick but the keeper did well to keep both attempts out.

FULL-TIME: RADCLIFFE BOROUGH 2 HARROGATE RAILWAY 4

BOOKINGS: 3 – James Field (Radcliffe) Scott Driscoll & Nigel Danby (Rail)

ATTENDANCE: 130

RAIL MAN OF THE MATCH: JAMES MANN

PLAYER MARK OUT OF 10:

James Mann – 9

James Nettleton – 7

Steve Ball – 7

Liam Gray – 8

Dan Verity – 7

Chris Jenkinson – 7

Dan Thirkell – 7

Andy Jackson – 7

Ben Jones – 8

Steve Palfrey – 8

Scott Driscoll – 7

SUBS: Tom Jackson – 7, Nigel Danby - 7