Toolstation NCEL Division One
Harrogate Railway 1-0 Selby Town
Goal machine Elliot Holmes stole the points for set-piece specialists Harrogate Railway with a last gasp header, ending free-scoring Selby Town’s unbeaten run.
Centre-half Holmes’s fifth goal of the season also knocked Selby off the top of the table.
Neither side deserved to lose the a proverbial war of attrition encounter and nor was the game a borefest until the goal.
The ending was slightly harsh on Selby who don’t deserve any criticism for their performance.
Both teams showed plenty of attacking intent and had chances but two strong and organised defences held firm to cancel each other out.
Railway’s defensive set-up prevented Selby from getting in behind – apart from once – and adding to the 23 goals they have already scored this season.
There is great temptation to roll out of the headlines of ‘Railway finally turning the corner’.
In reality that was last year’s news.
This season has always been about kicking on.
Railway were on the up during the aborted 2020/21 campaign, they just didn’t have chance to claim a major scalp.
This is their first one under Mick O’Connell and a moment that had long been prepared for.
The visit of Selby is the first of the blockbuster trilogy of games against the so-called promotion favourites.
North Ferriby and Hallam are next up so Railway are potentially going to know their benchmark in a week’s time.
If Railway can be more clinical then they have every chance of upsetting the applecart again.
Railway striker Joe Crosby had the best opportunity of the first half.
His low stinger was destined for the far bottom corner but goalkeeper Dylan Parkin was equal to it.
Railway struggled to venture forward in the second stanza and spent a lot of the half soaking up the pressure from Selby.
The home side were rarely breached but on one occasion they were and it was nearly costly.
Flynn McNaughton looked set to score as he went one-on-one with goalkeeper Joe Wilton.
The shot went wide of the post – no corner was given but from the side it appeared Wilton had made a wonder save.
The match wandered on and began to fizzle out until the late sucker punch.
Railway captain Dan McDaid’s delivery from the corner was exquisite as he planted it right into the six-yard-box.
Holmes leapt and duly sparked joy and elation.
What They Said
Harrogate Railway manager Mick O’Connell
“A draw would have been a fair result on the basis of the 90 minutes but I’ll take the three points.
“It turned into a horrible game.
“I thought we controlled the game in the first half and we probably should have gone in a goal or two up.
“They were always going to come at us in the second half and Selby are very good at playing the long ball and they do get round the second ball.
“It took us a while to pick up and deal with it but I thought we dealt with it pretty well.
“Second half we were men behind the ball but you know that Selby are very direct so if you squeeze up and concede space behind you, teams like Selby will hurt you.
“They did have chances and if Joe Wilton got a fingertip to one of them, it is an unbelievable save.”
Selby Town manager Christian Fox
“It was looking like it was heading (towards a draw) and they have grabbed one with five minutes to go.
“They did put us under pressure and had a lot of corners throughout the game.
“We had a chat about that at half-time to see if we could cut them out.
“It is disappointing not to pick up a point when it looked like it was going to be worst case scenario.
“You’re not going win every game so there’s no point getting down and depressed about it.
“We didn’t do a lot wrong in the game and we looked comfortable.
“I thought we were poor in the first half, I thought (Railway) shaded it.
“I thought we were on top for the majority of the second half and created a few chances.
“If any team was going to win it, it looked like it was going to be us at one point.”
The Teams
Harrogate Railway: Wilton, Clark, McDaid (captain), Thirkell, Holmes, Morris, Robertson, Danby, Crosby, Ibrahimi (Bromley 80), Barnard (Lee 86). Subs unused: Seyffert, Barker, Drake.
Selby Town: Parkin, Sheppard, Sellers, Lawman, Gothard (captain), Snaith, Cooper (Rogerson 55), Clamp (Vass 75), Flanagan, McNaughton (Street 86), Clapham. Subs unused: Davison, Klimczak.
Who Was In Charge
Anthony Ficetola (8/10)
How Many Were There
122
Man of the Match
Jamie Danby (Harrogate Railway)
Young Danby has been a revelation since joining Railway, consistently defying his years. He is like Dennis Wise with his energy and ability to break up play. Father Nigel will also a raise a smile at some of the tackles.
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.
Our work is playing 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.
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.
