Harrogate Railway 0-2 Darlington 1883
George Mason in possession for Harrogate Railway during the 2-0 defeat to Darlington 1883
Harrogate Railway gave a very good account of themselves against a strong Darlington 1883 side at Station View.
Railway were holding their own until Darlington’s new boy Lewis Nightingale, the former Farsley Celtic midfielder, broke the deadlock against his old club with a deflected strike.
An early second half Terry Galbraith goal settled the pre-season run-out.
Nightingale was one of five former Railway players in the Darlington squad – Amar Purewal, Matty Lovegreen, Chris Elliott and Nathan Cartman being the other four.
Railway legend Cartman, Darlington’s danger man, was kept extremely quiet during his time on the field.
If this performance is anything to go by, Lee Ashforth has a good chance of being successful in his bid to revive Railway’s fortunes after their relegation from the Evo Stik League last season.
Harrogate Railway’s Harry Brown calls out for the ball
New Railway midfielder Gregg Porter tackles former Farsley man Lewis Nightingale
Nightingale opened the scoring for Darlington with a deflected strike
Harrogate Railway legend Nathan Cartman had a quiet night for Darlington
Harrogate Railway manager Lee Ashforth was pleased with what he saw
Returning forward Dan Barrett almost gave Railway a shock lead in the opening minutes when his drive was turned away by goalkeeper Elliott.
Barrett went close again late in the first half, in-between Harry Brown’s last ditch tackle to prevent Nightingale scoring.
Darlington’s opener on the stroke of half-time was fortunate. Nightingale’s cross from just inside the box on the left-wing took a huge deflection and goalkeeper Jake Lofthouse was left stranded.
New Railway defender Danny Stimpson prevented Purewal from scoring on his return to Station View after the break. However, his superb goal-line clearance only briefly stopped Darlington from grabbing the second goal.
From the resulting corner, Galbraith needed two attempts to force the ball over the line at the back-post.
That signalled the end of the scoring and a defeat for Railway, but there was plenty of food for thought for Ashforth and his assistant Martin Powell.
Harrogate Railway: Lofthouse, Parkes, Kidd, Lowe, Stimpson, Brown, Mason, Porter, Barrett, Ovington, Oyebanji. Subs: Clamp, Gray, Morley, Bland, Mbire, Avery.
Darlington 1883: Elliott, Marrs, Watson, Portas, Burgess, Galbraith, Winder, Scott, Cartman, Gaskell, Nightingale. Subs: Purewal, Harrison, Hardy, Turnbull, Marley, Lovegreen.
Referee: Aaron Bannister