Eddy Birch turns away after scoring Ossett Albion’s second goal in the win over Harrogate Railway
Ossett Albion held onto a 2-1 win over Harrogate Railway after a nervy finish at Dimple Wells in the Evo Stik Division One North.
Connor Bower and Eddy Birch’s goals had given Ossett a comfortable advantage until a bolt out of the blue from Railway’s Vincent Dhesi gave the home side some jitters in the final ten minutes.
Railway were unable to rescue a point and succumbed to a third successive defeat.
Ossett remain unbeaten at home after an extremely positive start to the season. The chances of the run continuing looked good after just four minutes.
Pacy striker Bower, dual-registered with Harrogate Town, got in behind the Railway defence and coolly placed the ball past goalkeeper Tom Goodwin.
It was first goal since returning to Dimple Wells a few games into the campaign. His confidence was clearly boosted as he then struck ambitious volley from a seemingly impossible which was only kept out by an exceptional save from Goodwin.
Only a weak effort from Fatlum Ibrahimi was on Railway’s shot list in the first half.
Connor Bower slots the ball past Tom Goodwin to put Albion ahead
Ossett Albion celebrate with Bower
It was Bower’s first goal since returning to Dimple Wells
Harrogate’s Dan Barrett battles with Ross Hardaker
Richard Tracey said Ossett Albion need to control games better
Harrogate Railway manager Lee Ashforth believed Ossett deserved to win
Ossett Albion striker Nicky Matthews holds off Alex Low
Albion seemingly put the match to bed at the start of the second half when 43-year-old full-back Steve Nicholson’s cross was turned home by Birch.
Little was then created by either side and Ossett appeared to have the game under control.
That was until Stephen Bromley’s through ball was met by Dhesi, who magnificently lobbed the onrushing Brett Souter, who had little to do before that point.
Hope was suddenly injected into Railway and Albion manager Richard Tracey was probably flashbacks to the visitors’ Nathan Cartman inspired comeback last October which saw them claim an unlikely victory.
Unfortunately for Rail, it wasn’t to be as Albion held their nerve and even nearly added a third.
Substitute Rob Bordman almost put the icing on the cake with a spectacular drive which Goodwin kept out in the dying minutes.
Ossett Albion manager Richard Tracey:
“We always seem to do it the hard way.
“We have started the last three or four home games really brightly and scored an early goal, but have struggled to get a second and a third to kill the game off.
“Today Bows went through and scored, but we probably found the first 20 minutes a bit easy and we started coasting.
“That’s when we got punished in the sense that Harrogate dominated the first half. We had words at half-time and said we had to upp our game and move the ball quicker.
“We got the goal and we managed the game pretty well for 20 minutes, but we chased the third goal instead of managing the game.
“We got caught on the break which made it a tense last few minutes. We should have seen the game out and kept a clean sheet.”
Harrogate Railway manager Lee Ashforth:
“It is disappointing to lose, but I always want to take the positives from the game.
“I thought we played well in patches and the last 20 minutes certainly showed that the team has the desire to claw a game back.
“I think Ossett Albion deserved the win, but we probably could have nicked a point at the end.
“It is never easy wherever you go in this league and I’m not too disappointed.”
Ossett Albion: Souter, Nicholson, Hardaker, Wright (Callery 78), Riordan, South, Muller (Brunt 70), Jones, Bower, Birch, Matthews (Bordman 67). Subs unused: Milnes, Thompson.
Harrogate Railway: Goodwin, Parkes, Kidd, Low, Thirkell, Horne, Sharrocks (Brown 75), Ibrahimi, Bromley, Worrall (Dhesi 57), Outerbridge (Barrett 52). Subs unused: Clamp, Stockdill.
Referee: Luke Watson
Ref Rating: 10/10 (excellent official)
Attendance: 128
Man of the match: Steve Nicholson (Ossett Albion)
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