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Red & Green Beaver Match Reports

Rail loose out to League leaders Lancaster City at the second time of asking

LANCASTER CITY 3 HARROGATE RAILWAY 0

TEAM NEWS: With the injuries to both Aaron Hollingdrake and Kevin Ryan and the departure of Nathan Cartman Phil Sharpe had to make 3 enforced changes to the team that narrowly lost out to Clitheroe 12 days ago. In came Phil Mitchell, Steve Ball & Dan Verity and with Matt Johnson absent it meant we couldn’t afford any injuries with only 2 on the bench.

As like our previous visit to the ‘The Giant Axe’ we fell to an early goal. An angled ball through our defence and midfield caught us out as we appealed for offside. It fell nicely for the wide man as he went in on goal but he unselfishly squared the ball to the far post for Mike Rushton to have the easy task of taping the ball into an empty net from close range

LANCASTER CITY 1 HARROGATE RAILWAY 0 (3mins)

Despite the early set back Rail set about getting themselves back into the game. Within minutes of the goal a brilliant cross from Phil Mitchell found Dan Thirkell at the far post but his header was just wide of the mark. Lancaster seemed to be relying on catching us out on the break and they nearly added a second when a Lancaster player found himself one on one with Manny. Manny bravely came out and blocked the shot and danger was averted. Moments later an injury to the linesman delayed the match by several minutes as he received treatment by the Lancaster physio. Despite the treatment he couldn’t continue and was replaced by spectator in the crowd who happened to be a vicar. Despite the divine intervention Rail fell further behind to another Mike Rushton goal. Yet another miserable attempt to play offside let him in on goal. Despite Chris Jenkinson’s attempt at getting back at the player and Manny coming out to block him he somehow managed to squeeze the ball through Manny’s arms and into the back of the net.

LANCASTER CITY 2 HARROGATE RAILWAY 0 (36mins)

With a mountain to climb Rail came bravely back at Lancaster with a few long range shots that didn’t test the keeper. However with only 5 minutes to go to half-time Railway had a claim for a penalty. The ball was played into the area and fell to Dan Thirkell but before he had time to shoot he was bundled over by a Lancaster defender. Despite Rail’s appeals the referee played on. Rail had one last chance in the dying seconds as they were awarded a free-kick a few yards away from the penalty box. Up stepped both Liam Gray and Dan Verity but it was the latter who eventually took it and didn’t disappoint as his hard shot found its target but Martin Fearon in goal was equal to it and palmed the ball away for a corner. Moments later the referee blew his whistle after 7 minutes of injury-time.

HALF-TIME: LANCASTER CITY 2 HARROGATE RAILWAY 0

Rail had to make a change at half-time with Tom Jackson coming on for Steve Ball. Phil also decided to change the system playing with 3 at the back and using 3 in the middle with 2 wing backs. Within minutes Rail should have been dead and buried but for another great block by Manny to deny Mike Rushton his hat-trick. Rail were struggling to adjust to the new system and Phil Mitchell was booked as a Lancaster forward advanced towards goal. He was a bit fortunate to not see red and was saved only by the fact there were two or three defenders just to the side of him. Unfortunately the new formation didn’t really change things as Lancaster were looking more and more dangerous as the half wore on. Rail were awarded a corner kick down on our left and for the first time the ball actually beat the first defender and found Dan Thirkell at the far post with a Lancaster defender both going for the ball. It seemed as though the ball had gone over the defender as Danny rose above him and planted his header into the back of the net. The referee deemed to have seen Dan foul the defender so he disallowed the goal. That I’m afraid has summed our luck up this season. It hasn’t been the first time this season that we have been a couple of goals behind and had a goal disallowed at a vital time. Rail were still pushing forward which left them open to any quick breaks but despite the danger the risk had to be taken. Lancaster then brought on 2 fresh attackers in replace of top scorer Jordan Connerton and Jerome Watt. On another charge forward Phil Mitchell was upended by Jonathan Smith and the referee produced his second card of the afternoon. The final nail in the coffin was Lancaster’s third goal of the afternoon. There was only 3 minutes left of normal time left as a good move by Lancaster set up substitute Mark Jackson one on one with Manny. Despite Manny’s efforts his luck was not in and the ball looped off his body and into the back of the net.

LANCASTER CITY 3 HARROGATE RAILWAY 0 (87mins)

The game was over and done with as the referee added 3 minutes of injury time and then blew his whistle for full-time.

FULL-TIME: LANCASTER CITY 3 HARROGATE RAILWAY 0

BOOKINGS: 2 – Phil Mitchell (Rail) Jonathan Smith (Lancaster)

ATTENDANCE: 181

RAIL MAN OF THE MATCH: LIAM GRAY

PLAYERS MARK OUT OF 10:

James Mann – 7

James Nettleton – 6

Steve Ball – 6

Liam Gray – 7

Dan Verity – 6

Chris Jenkinson – 7

Nicky Darker – 6

Paul Stansfield – 7

Ben Jones – 6

Dan Thirkell – 7

Phil Mitchell – 7

SUB: Tom Jackson - 7

Another 3 points in the bag as Rail put Woodley Sports to the sword

HARROGATE RAILWAY 3 WOODLEY SPORTS 1

TEAM NEWS: For the third game running Phil Sharpe had the luxury of picking an unchanged side and who narrowly lost to Colwyn Bay the previous week.

With Woodley Sports coming off a big victory last week against league leaders Lancaster City Rail were expecting a tough game and so it turned out to be. However despite Rails loss against Colwyn Bay it was Rail who started off the liveliest with every player putting in 100% and causing our visitors all sorts of problems. It was developing into a midfield battle and to be honest Woodley Sports fell right into our hands. With Liam Gray and Nicky Darker biting into every tackle our visitors didn’t have chance to settle on the ball. Although the chances were limited it was Woodley Sports who came closest on 15 minutes when a long range shot went narrowly wide of Manny’s left hand post. A late tackle on Paul Stansfield went unpunished shortly afterwards but Tom Jackson wasn’t as lucky as he made a clumsy challenge in midfield and was immediately shown a yellow card. Woodley Sports were now pushing forward and were starting to cause the Rail defence some problems and it was on one of these attacks that all hell broke loose. Liam made a tackle from behind as Anthoni Sarcevic advanced on goal. The player reacted by pushing Liam down to the ground and then both sets of players joined in a melee of pushing and shoving in which one or two players raised their hands. To be honest Liam deserved the booking he got but unfortunately the referee was not strong enough to produce at least two red cards for a player from each side. The linesperson obviously didn’t see what I saw despite being stood to the side of him. It was an ugly incident and from there on to be honest the referee had lost control of the game. Rail finished the half strongly and were rewarded with a goal 5 minutes before half-time. Ben Jones made inroads down the left side of the area and put in a low cross to the near post to Aaron Hollingdrake who at the second attempt finished with a low shot past the stranded Liam Higginbotham for Rail to take the lead.

HARROGATE RAILWAY 1 WOODLEY SPORTS 0 (40mins)

Just reward for Aaron who has put in a lot of hard work since he joined us from Ossett Town 3 games ago. The half finished with Rail on a high and a deserved half-time lead.

HALF-TIME: HARROGATE RAILWAY 1 WOODLEY SPORTS 0
Rail continued in the same manner as the first but this time it paid double dividends as the game was virtually settled in the first 10 minutes. Paul Stansfield made another great run down our left and as he tried to cross the ball he was pulled down in the penalty area and the referee pointed straight to the spot. There seemed a long delay as the Woodley Sports players made their feelings known to the referee about the decision. The referee then produced another yellow card this time for dissent from Gary Gee. Eventually Ben stepped up and coolly dispatched the ball down the middle which easily beat the diving keeper.

HARROGATE RAILWAY 2 WOODLEY SPORTS 0 (49mins)

Rail fans had virtually no time to draw breathe as Rail increased their lead to three. Rail were awarded a corner down on our left and was swung into the middle. The ball was only half cleared away and it fell to Liam Gray on the right hand side of the penalty box. He eventually controlled the ball and unleashed a powerful shot across Liam Higginbotham and into the back of the net.

HARROGATE RAILWAY 3 WOODLEY SPORTS 0 (52mins)

Game virtually over for our visitors. Despite going three down Woodley Sports started to press forward but the Rail defence stood firm as they were put under a lot of pressure. Dan Verity and Chris Jenkinson were winning everything in the air and broke up a lot of our opponent’s attacks except for one moment. Our offside trap had been working well all afternoon but Woodley beat it in the 65^th minute. Despite the players appeals the attacker squared the ball across Manny and Mike Clarke had the easiest of tap-ins to make it 3-1.

HARROGATE RAILWAY 3 WOODLEY SPORTS 1 (65mins)

This seemed to lift Woodley and Rails only response was to try and counter-attack. As the half wore on some of the tackles were getting a bit lazy from both sides and the referee seemed lenient and hesitant in producing a red card. Both Tom Jackson and Anthoni Sarcevic were guilty of bookable tackles and the only thing the referee did was give them both a verbal warning. This didn’t really have the desired effect as both sets of players seemed determined to test the referee’s patience with niggling and petty fouls and to be honest again the players virtually did what they wanted. The rest of the half was littered by substitutions and free kicks and Woodley only threatened on a couple of occasions where Manny had to be on his toes to keep the shots out. With only a few minutes remaining another Woodley Sports player found himself in the book for disagreeing with the linespersons decision to award Rail a throw-in. A pointless booking as the referee blew his whistle five minutes later. Another 3 points for the Mighty Rail on our way to relegation safety.

FULL-TIME: HARROGATE RAILWAY 3 WOODLEY SPORTS 1
BOOKINGS: 5 – Tom Jackson & Liam Gray (Rail) Anthoni Sarcevic, Gary Gee & A.N Other (Woodley)

ATTENDANCE: 85
SUPPORTERS PLAYER OF THE MATCH: PAUL STANSFIELD & LIAM GRAY

PLAYER’S MARKS OUT OF 10:

James Mann – 7

James Nettleton – 7

Tom Jackson – 7

Liam Gray – 8

Dan Verity – 7

Chris Jenkinson – 7

Nicky Darker – 7

Paul Stansfield – 8

Kevin Ryan – 7

Aaron Hollingdrake – 7

Ben Jones – 7

SUBS: Nathan Cartman – 7 (on for Nicky Darker) Dan Thirkell – not on long enough (on for Dan Verity) Steve Ball – not on long enough (on for Tom Jackson)

COLWYN BAY 2 HARROGATE RAILWAY 0 Match Report...

31/01/10

TEAM NEWS: For probably the first time this season Phil Sharpe picked the same starting 11 as last week’s victory against Leigh Genesis.
After last week’s victory Rail were determined to carry on their good work. Despite our lowly position Colwyn Bay were finding it difficult to break us down and there was nothing to choose between the two sides for most of the first half. Chances were at a premium for both sides and the real first chance fell to our hosts on 10 minutes. A dangerous cross in from our left was glanced on in the middle but just hit the top of the crossbar but Rail came back at Colwyn Bay with a chance of their own. A swift move just outside the penalty box found Kevin Ryan free in the area but with him going away from goal he found it difficult to put a shot in as the keeper came out and blocked. Colwyn Bay had to make a change as early as the 20^th minute as Ryan Williams came on for the injured Neil Black. Moments later Kevin rose well from a corner and was unfortunate not to score as his header was deflected off a defender and onto the crossbar. Both sides were competing well but Dan Verity competed a little too much as his late challenge earned himself a yellow card. The remainder of the half remained even as both sides battled it out in midfield.
HALF-TIME: COLWYN BAY 0 HARROGATE RAILWAY 0
The second-half was pretty much like the first but with Colwyn Bay looking a little more dangerous. Rail were struggling to create anything despite Kevin Ryan and Aaron Hollingdrake best efforts to hold the ball up and start threatening near goal. Mind you Colwyn’s front two were also finding it difficult against a dogged Rail defence with Dan Verity and Chris Jenkinson winning everything in the air. There was a change from both sides to see if either team could break the deadlock as the game seemed to be heading for a draw. On came Alex Tichener for Russell Headley for Colwyn Bay and Nathan Cartman came on for the injured Ben Jones. Unfortunately it was Colwyn Bay's replacement that was to have an impact on the game. With Colwyn now pressing forward for a winner Rail were finding themselves defending deeper and deeper and it wasn’t until the 76^th minute that they got their break through. Rail found it difficult to clear their lines and the ball came to the edge of the area. Ian Sheridan cut inside and curled a right-footed shot past Manny and into the back of the net. A bit of a body blow for Rail with less than 15 minutes to go.
COLWYN BAY 1 HARROGATE RAILWAY 0 (76mins)
Rail then made another chance as Danny Thirkell came on to replace Tom Jackson and changed their formation to 3 at the back in an attempt to get back on level terms. Despite the best efforts from our supporters to rally the team, time was against them as they struggled to threaten the Colwyn Bay defence and with Rail pushing forward substitute Alex Tichener finally put the game to bed. In the dying minutes he found himself on the edge of the area and his powerful shot found its way past Manny and into the back of the net.
COLWYN BAY 2 HARROGATE RAILWAY 0 (86mins)
A cruel blow for Rail who gave their everything and didn’t really deserve to be coming away with nothing at all. With virtually no time to reply the game finished with the disconsolate Rail players being applauded off by the small band of noisy supporters.
FULL-TIME: COLWYN BAY 2 HARROGATE RAILWAY 0
BOOKING: 1 – DAN VERITY (Rail)
ATTENDANCE: 374 </374

RAIL MAN OF THE MATCH: PAUL STANSFIELD
PLAYERS MARK OUT OF 10:
James Mann – 7
James Nettleton – 7
Tom Jackson – 7
Liam Gray – 7
Dan Verity – 7
Chris Jenkinson – 7
Nicky Darker – 7
Paul Stansfield – 8
Kevin Ryan – 7
Aaron Hollingdrake – 7
Ben Jones – 7
SUBS: Nathan Cartman – 7, Dan Thirkell – not on long enough

After 5 long months Rail finally get another League victory against high flying Leigh Genesis
HARROGATE RAILWAY 2 LEIGH GENESIS 1

TEAM NEWS: Well if people can remember this far back Phil Sharpe made 4 changes from the side that narrowly missed out from winning against Prescot Cables way back on the 12^th December. In came James Mann, debutants Chris Jenkinson & Aaron Hollingdrake & Nicky Darker who replacing Chris Hill, Steve Ball, Phil Mitchell & Dan Thirkell (both bench)

As both sides were a little rusty the first half struggled to get going with chances at a very small premium. It wasn’t long after the start that Nicky Darker became the first Rail player to see yellow this year after an ugly tackle just beyond the half-way line. A pointless booking as the player wasn’t actually going anywhere. Things only really got going 20 minutes into the game as Rail started to mount a bit of pressure on the Leigh defence. Rail worked the ball around the area and the ball finally dropped to Liam Gray who unleashed a terrific shot which had the keeper scrambling across his area but the ball narrowly went wide of the post. Shortly afterwards Rail had a penalty appeal turned down as Ben Jones went tumbling down in the area after the keeper had made a good save and then went to dive for the loose ball. The referee would have nothing to do with it and waived Ben’s half-hearted appeal away. Whilst all this was going on Leigh made inroads to the edge of our penalty area which resulted in Manny making a good one-handed save which went for a corner. 10 minutes before half-time Rail should really have taken the lead. They were awarded a corner down on our left which was swung in by Nicky Darker. The ball was not cleared as it fell to Paul Stansfield. He hit a tremendous half-volley towards goal and somehow the keeper managed to make a terrific block. A couple of inches either side of him the ball would have been in the back of the net. Leigh then started to pressurise our defence but a moment’s madness minutes before half-time resulted in ex-pro Matt Jansen seeing red after kicking out at a Rail player for no apparent reason. This possibly could have cost Leigh some vital points. Thankfully the half ended with no further incident as the referee blew his whistle for half-time.

HALF-TIME: HARROGATE RAILWAY 0 LEIGH GENESIS 0
Despite being down to 10 men it was Leigh who started the brightest in the second-half as Rail struggled to cope with their opponent’s new formation. Even Phil after the game admitted that he was surprised by how Leigh came out. But despite their best efforts Rail held out without any real scares and Leigh were made to pay for their adventurous endeavours. Rail pressurised Leigh’s wide player on our left towards his own goal and he eventually put the ball out of play. A quick throw-in was taken which set Paul Stansfield free and in on goal. His long run paid off as he teed Kevin Ryan up with a lovely chipped ball into the area and Kevin had an easy task of firmly heading the ball into the back of the net.

HARROGATE RAILWAY 1 LEIGH GENESIS 0 (54mins)

Shortly afterwards debutant Aaron Hollingdrake should have sewn the game up. He beat the keeper to the ball and snatched at the ball and hit his shot narrowly wide of the post. Leigh made a couple of changes with Chris Thompson and Karl Munroe coming on for Chris Page and Jack Dorney and the changes seem to work as they pressed forward for an equaliser. It wasn’t long that they found the back of the net but from an unexpected source. An innocuous looking cross from our left was intercepted by Dan Verity at the near post but instead of clearing the ball it hit his shin and floated over Manny’s head and into the far corner of the net.

HARROGATE RAILWAY 1 LEIGH GENESIS 1 (62mins)

On came Nathan Cartman for Aaron Hollingdrake. This meant that Ben Jones was pushed forward alongside Kevin Ryan and Nathan playing left of midfield. The game was now pretty evenly matched and it didn’t look as though there was to be a winner as time went on. Both teams struggled to really create any clear cut chances as the pitch started to cut up and passing the ball along the ground was becoming more and more difficult. With less than 10 minutes to go Rail worked the ball out to our left with a good move. The ball ended up at the feet of full-back Tom Jackson who’s deep cross found Kevin Ryan at the far post with players all around him but he managed to get his head to the ball and place his firm header past the scrambling keeper and into the back of the net.

HARROGATE RAILWAY 2 LEIGH GENESIS 1 (83mins)

Moments later Phil made 2 substitutions with Danny Thirkell and Phil Mitchell coming on for Nicky Darker and Ben Jones. In between these changes Rail really should have added a third goal but the unlucky Liam Gray’s super strike from the edge of the area cannoned off the outside of the post and out for a goalkick. Despite the 4 minutes of injury time Leigh could not find a way back and Rail ran out winners for the first time since August. A great relief to all the playing staff and players and most of all to the long suffering supporters.

FULL-TIME: HARROGATE RAILWAY 2 LEIGH GENESIS 1
BOOKING: 1 – NICKY DARKER (Rail)

ATTENDANCE: 102

MAN OF THE MATCH: PAUL STANSFIELD

PLAYERS MARK OUT OF 10:

James Mann – 7

James Nettleton – 7

Tom Jackson – 7

Liam Gray – 7

Dan Verity – 7

Chris Jenkinson – 7

Nicky Darker – 7

Paul Stansfield – 8

Kevin Ryan – 8

Aaron Hollingdrake – 7

Ben Jones – 7

SUBS: Nathan Cartman – 7, Dan Thirkell & Phil Mitchell (not on long enough)

Rail leave it very late to steal a point at Woodley Sports

WOODLEY SPORTS 1 HARROGATE RAILWAY 1

TEAM NEWS: There was only one change from the team that narrowly lost to League leaders FC Halifax Town with loan signing Neil Ross coming in for James Nestor.

With the wind blowing around the ground Woodley Sports decided to play with the conditions in their favour. However signs were looking good for Railway as just after 5 minutes Zaphaniah Thomas made a great run down our left but unfortunately his cross was a little wayward and floated over every body’s heads. The real first clear cut chance came on 10 minutes when a Woodley attacker found himself in the clear down on our right with the Rail players desperately appealing for offside. He had all the time in the world to put the ball in the back of the net but he seemed to hesitate as well and within a split second Manny had closed him down and half blocked his shot. The ball eventually was cleared out of danger. Rail were really struggling to mount any sort of attack and Manny was finding it difficult to find our men with his kicks. Midway through the first half Rail had another let off as Woodley had appeals for a penalty turned down as an attacker seemed to have his legs taken away as he made inroads into the box. With Rail virtually encamped in our own half Manny had to be at his best with a couple of smart saves as Woodley mounted some more pressure towards the end of the first-half. Woodley were awarded several corners in a row but the Rail defence held out with some good defensive headers.

HALF-TIME: WOODLEY SPORTS 0 HARROGATE RAILWAY 0
Rail made a half-time substitution as captain Ben Jones had to be replaced by James Nestor due to feeling ill. Rail with the wind virtually at their backs started the second-half really well. With the long throw-ins and numerous corners the Woodley defence held out well and looked dangerous on the counter-attack with their tricky wide players causing Phil Mitchell and Steve Robinson a few problems. Although neither keeper was really tested the game suddenly burst into life. Mike Clarke who had barely been on the pitch after replacing Levi Kennedy caught Phil Mitchell out as a long ball was played down our left. He outran Phil and hit a cross shot from distance which caught Manny out of his goal. The ball whistled over Manny’s head and into the far corner of the net.

WOODLEY SPORTS 1 HARROGATE RAILWAY 0 (64mins)

Phil Sharpe then decided to bring on Steve Ball to replace Luke Todd and Craig Ramplin coming on for Neil Ross. Unfortunately for Steve his appearance didn’t last too long. Manny had just made a clearance and everyone was concentrating on the ball as it reached the halfway line. The next thing I know the assistant referee was on the pitch waving his flag wildly. Within a couple of minutes after consulting with the referee Woodley Sports no.9 Gavin Salmon had been shown a straight red card. Steve Ball followed him shortly after. From what I understand Gavin Salmon was sent off for punching Steve and Steve was sent-off for retaliation. With both sides now reduced to 10 men Phil decided to put Phil Mitchell into midfield and put Craig Ramplin to full-back. Woodley then made a change due to an injury to Steve Parry with Rob Parsonage replacing him. Rail with time running out had to push forward but with Woodley defending well it didn’t look as though Rail’s fortunes at the Neil Rourke stadium was going to change. Woodley’s Danny Queeley was booked for not retreating 10 yards as the pressure mounted. Rail huffed and puffed as they tried to get an equaliser but with all the pressure we didn’t seem to create a clear cut chance. The 90 minutes were up and 5 minutes injury time was indicated. The five minutes proved vital for Rail. It was going to take something special to break Woodley’s rearguard down. Rail were awarded a corner down on our right. The defence seem to have dealt with it but the headed clearance fell to the feet of Phil Mitchell on the edge of the area. His sweetly struck shot flew past a melee of players and into the back of the net for the equaliser.

WOODLEY SPORTS 1 HARROGATE RAILWAY 1 (90+4mins)

The referee had hardly had time to blow for the restart when he blew the full-time whistle.

FULL TIME SCORE: WOODLEY SPORTS 1 HARROGATE RAILWAY 1

SENDINGS OFF: 2 - Gavin Salmon (Woodley) Steve Ball (Rail)

BOOKINGS: 1 – Danny Queeley (Woodley)

ATTENDANCE: 121

RAIL MAN OF THE MATCH: PHIL MITCHELL

PLAYERS MARKS:

James Mann – 7

Steve Robinson – 6

Phil Mitchell – 7

Nigel Danby – 7

Dan Verity – 7

Paul Stansfield – 6

Dan Thirkell – 6

Luke Todd – 6

Ben Jones – 6