Harrogate Railway hit a brick wall in the West Riding County Cup. Picture: Caught Light Photography
Harrogate Railway crashed out of the West Riding County Cup on Tuesday night after a 5-0 thumping at the hands of Barnoldswick Town.
The hosts went ahead through Joseph Gaughan’s excellent strike on nine minutes although Railway could have gone in level at the break had Louis Horne’s back post finish not been ruled out for offside.
Railway were comfortably second best in the following half with goals from Harry Thompson, Matthew Simpson and Gaughan completing his hat-trick compounding the visitors misery.
In the absence of Lee Ashforth, Simon Wood and Martin Powell took charge of the team and made six changes from Saturday’s loss at Clitheroe.
Barnoldswick took the lead just nine minutes into the soaking wet night at the Silentnight Stadium when Gaughan rifled one into the top corner with his left foot from outside the area.
Railway looked for a response as Jack Stockdill and Tom Owen had efforts well blocked before the two combined on the edge of the box resulting in Stockdill dragging a shot wide.
Harrogate then came close to an equaliser only for a Barnoldswick defender to poke the ball out for a corner before Charlie Clamp could apply the finishing touch to Owen’s square ball.
Stockdill then went close with an ambitious shot from 30 yards, while Dan Thirkell had a shot blocked and Dan Barrett’s cross/shot was well caught by Jordan Gidley.
Horne then thought he had pulled his side back to level terms when he scrambled in Stockdill’s free kick delivery at the back post eight minutes before half time only for the linesman to disallow the goal for offside.
The impressive Gaughan continued to trouble Railway in the latter stages of the half, first hammering a free kick towards goal that Tom Goodwin kept out with his torso, then firing a fierce left footed drive narrowly past the far post.
After Railway had been forced into three substitutions at the start of the second period, Barnoldswick added a second on the hour when Harry Thompson was found free inside the Harrogate area and coolly finished.
It took just three minutes for Stewart Airdie’s men to add a third and all but seal a place in third round when Gaughan latched on to a through ball behind the Railway back line before rounding Goodwin and tapping in.
In response, Thirkell managed to craft an opportunity for Barrett with a quickly taken free kick but the striker’s finish was straight at the ‘keeper who gratefully held.
With fifteen minutes to go, Matthew Simpson added a fourth on the counter attack with a terrific solo effort as the striker motored down the left wing and powered past Goodwin to finish.
Now with the result way beyond doubt, Gaughan completed his hat-trick with three minutes to play as Barnoldswick’s star man picked out the bottom left corner from just inside Railway’s penalty area.
There was still time for Barrett to fire a shot over in the dying stages before the referee brought to an end a thoroughly disappointing evening that Harrogate Railway will be looking to forget in a hurry.
Harrogate Railway: Goodwin, Parkes, Kidd (Hunter 55), Clamp, Thirkell, Horne, Barrett, Brown (Ibrahimi 51), Owen (Sharrocks 54), Stockdill, Bromley. Subs unused: Dhesi, Wood
Barnoldswick Town: Gidley, Moore, McEneaney, Crorken, Airey, Ridehalgh, Beckwith (Hodson 79), Banes, Simpson (Hargreaves 79), Thompson (Lee 73), Gaughan. Subs unused: Pollard, Ellerton.
Referee: M. Denton
Attendance: 71
Thanks to Hall Boxhall-Dockree for this report.