Paul Stansfield was pleased to see his Knaresborough Town side overcome Glasshoughton Welfare in the FA Cup extra preliminary round penalty shootout victory at a busy Leeds Road.
The scores were tied at 1-1 after 90 minutes and former Harrogate Railway left-back Greg Kidd scored the winning penalty in the shootout to book a home tie with Workington.
Stansfield felt his side were in control during the opening half, but admitted the second saw little action. He also paid tribute to Glasshoughton.
“I thought in the first half we were miles better than them and we played some decent stuff and missed some one-on-one we would expect to score,” Stansfield told Non League Yorkshire.
“We were right on top and 1-0 up and they had a chance which led to a good save. They get a long throw and we managed to make a mess of it.
“So it was 1-1 at half-time which I thought was a little harsh. The second half was a non-event and I didn’t think either side did that much.
“The ball was in the air a lot. They (Glasshoughton) work hard, they are very honest and they are very direct and they’re hard to play against.
“I thought we matched them and the objective tonight was to get in the next round and we have done that.
“We were pretty comfortable and they were up for the penalties because I think they tried to slow it down whereas we tried to win it in normal time.
“Fair play to them because they are in the league below and they have given it a right good crack which I was expecting them to. Their managers do a super job and the players play for them and give it everything.”
Stansfield also highlighted the youthful nature of the squad which faced Glasshoughton.
“We haven’t got mountains of money so we can’t go round signing players, we have to make them better,” he said.
“We had two 17-year-olds and 18-year-olds from the reserves in there because we’re missing Tom Dugdale, Toby Harris, Rob Youhill, Colin Heath, the list goes on.
“We’re investing in the young lads and giving them a good go like we have done all pre-season and they’re sticking with us.
Almost 300 people converged on Leeds Road – the biggest gate since the visit of Scarborough Athletic (303) in April 2013 and Stansfield loved the occasion.
“I’ve never seen so many down at Glasshoughton,” he said.
“It was a brilliant atmosphere. You had the So Solid Crew in the corner giving it big licks. It was fun and games and that’s what football is all about.
“I thought it was really enjoyable. It was a nice reminder about why we are involved in the game and we said that before the game.
“We said that after five months of not playing you realise how much you love the game and how much you want to play.”
If you have enjoyed reading Non League Yorkshire over the past few months, please consider making a donation to the not-for-profit organisation NLY Community Sport which provides sport for children and adults with disabilities and learning difficulties. CLICK HERE to visit the JustGiving page.There is a video at the bottom of the page showing our work.
NLY Community Sport, run by James Grayson and Connor Rollinson, has always had combatting social isolation at the top of our objectives when running our Disability Football teams so now as we slowly return to ‘action’, our work will play an important role in reintroducing our players, who have disabilities and learning difficulties, back into society.
We have six teams, a mixture of Junior and Adult teams – Nostell MW DFC, Pontefract Pirates, Selby Disability Football Club and the South Yorkshire Superheroes (Barnsley) – across Yorkshire.
We have enjoyed great success over the past three years. Several of our players have represented Mencap GB in Geneva, including Billy Hobson from Selby and Greg Smith, whose story is quite inspiring.
Like most organisations, we have been affected financially by the Coronavirus and because of the cancelled Lucille Rollinson Memorial Tournament, we are down on projected income for the year and we have incurred losses in the last few months.
We have not been hit as badly as other organisations, but we do need raise £2000 to put us back at the level we were at in mid-March and enable us to make a difference once again to our players’ lives in the future, without having financial worries. Several of our players are suffering from effects of the lockdown and we are determined to be in the strongest position possible to provide services for them.
Any amount raised above £2000 will be put towards new projects (when the world returns to normal) designed to further benefit people with disabilities and learning difficulties. You can learn more about the organisation HERE and on our Facebook page.
Watch the video below to see highlights from our three years as an organisation. The video was produced for our players at the end of March to remind them of good memories from the last three years.