Evo Stik Division One North
Harrogate Railway 1-2 Ossett Town
Harrogate Railway captain Dan Thirkell battles for the ball during his side’s 2-1 defeat to Ossett Town. Picture: Caught Light Photography
Dan Barrett’s 71st minute goal was not enough to prevent Ossett Town collecting all three points on relegated Harrogate Railway’s final home game of the season.
Railway came out the traps slowly and were punished in the 34th minute when Anthony Mackie’s shot took a cruel deflection and bounced past Chandler Hallwood.
Five minutes into the second half Josh Schofield made it two-nil and too big of a deficit for Railway to claw back as he finished off Mackie’s low cross.
Lee Ashforth handed first Railway starts since November to Greg Kidd and Harry Brown who replaced Matty Lovegreen and Harry Coates in the starting eleven.
After an uneventful opening ten minutes, goal scorer Schofield signalled his intentions early with the first shot of the game that Hallwood comfortably kept out.
Danny Frost was next to try his luck as he arrowed a volley on the roof of the net, before Schofield came closest of anyone to breaking the deadlock; curling wide from the left of the area.
Railway then produced some nice football after 24 minutes to tear through the Ossett defence as Brown released Lawrance Hunter down the left, though George Mason couldn’t quite apply the finishing touch to the cross.
Grant Black’s men took a deserved lead 11 minutes before the interval as Mackie struck a fairly tame shot towards goal that took an awkward bobble and looped over Hallwood.
Both sides then had slight openings before the break as Alex Low blocked David Brown’s shot and Stephen Bromley almost connected with Nathan Curtis’ through ball.
Just like the first half, Ossett began the second half the brighter and doubled their lead in the 50th minute when Schofield applied the finishing touch to Mackie’s driven cross.
Chris Ovington tried to find an instant reply against his former club, but his effort was calmly collected by Thomas Beaurepaire in the Ossett goal.
The visiting ‘keeper was called into action again just past the hour mark as Curtis drove low towards goal and stung the fingertips of Beaurepaire.
There was nothing the stopper could do about Railway’s leveller though, as substitute Dan Barrett blasted home following Bromley’s headed flick.
With just under a quarter of an hour to go, Mackie thought he had put the tie to bed as he crashed a left footed volley off the underside of the bar and down towards the goal mouth, though not across the line according to the referee.
Harrogate Railway: Hallwood, Parkes (Peers 74), Hunter, Low, Kidd, Thirkell, Mason (Barrett 57), Brown, Curtis, Ovington (Clamp 84), Bromley. Subs unused: Lovegreen, Wood.
Ossett Town: Beaurepaire, Hawksworth, L Schofield, Ridley (McBurnie 60), Peterson, Kilburn, Mackie, Farnhill, J Schofield (Gay 73), Frost (Payne 60), Brown. Subs unused: Quinlan, Marsh.