Toolstation NCEL Premier Division
Harrogate Railway 0-5 Pickering Town
Pickering’s Eddy Birch
Pickering Town delayed Cleethorpes Town’s title celebrations for at least 24 hours with a straight-forward victory at Harrogate Railway.
It was also a winning return for Pickering boss Paul Marshall to the scene of his greatest triumph – Railway’s unforgettable run to the FA Cup second proper in 2002.
The result means FA Vase finalists Cleethorpes will have to win at Athersley Rec to clinch the title.
The turning point for Railway in the third NCEL GroundHop game was the dismissal of experienced defender Mike Morris, who saw red for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. That enabled Lewis Taylor to score from the penalty spot.
By half-time, Nick Thompson and Eddy Birch had effectively sealed the points for the Pikes.
George Bissett and Ryan Blott rounded off the win in the second half.
The Teams
Harrogate Railway: Webster, Lazenby, Riley, Chapman, Morris, Gray (captain), Lyn, Kine, Fogarty, Ibrahimi, Jones, Whitley, Kirk, Barnard.
Pickering Town: Wells, Parker, Bissett, Chipps, Denton, Tilsley, Thompson, Birch, Blott, Taylor, Dalton. Subs: Dunnett, Ingram, Kamara, Robinson, Cooper.