Caretaker boss Steven Jeff led Ossett Town to an unexpected victory at Cammell Laird in remarkable circumstances
Ossett Town are not the first team to record an unlikely victory after managerial departures.
Here are some examples of clubs winning in extraordinary circumstances.
Salford City 1-4 Harrogate Railway – 31st March 2012 – NPL Division One North
Nigel Danby had been sacked after a string of poor results and Railway had appointed Denis Metcalf Jr as the joint manager alongside Alan Parkes and Bob Moffat in a bid to avoid relegation with six games to go.
Railway travelled to Salford in their first match at the helm, but without a recognised goalkeeper because Craig Parry had left and the transfer deadline had passed. Reserve team striker Kevin Morris played in goal and despite conceding early, Railway hit back with a Paul Beesley hat-trick and a Chris Howarth strike.
Reflecting on the game, Metcalf Jr told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “The thing is, if I was had been made manager two weeks ago and this had happened, we would have had goalkeepers for fun. But I wasn’t. I was brought in a week last Tuesday which didn’t give us any time to sort it out because of the deadline.”
Railway managed to get clearance to play their reserve team goalkeeper and he played in the final five matches.
Brighouse Town 1-2 Glasshoughton Welfare – 26th September 2009 – NCEL Division One
Glasshoughton Welfare officials look back on this particular game as a turning point in their history and the one that paved the way for the later remarkable success under Craig Elliott.
Glasshoughton had gone 52 games without winning with a young team and now club chairman Phil Riding stood aside for former Halifax Irish manager Stuart Waddington to become the club’s new manager.
Waddington had an instant impact. Despite going 1-0 down to an Andy Markham goal for promotion-chasing Brighouse, John Booth and James Flower struck for Glasshoughton.
Welfare had to hold their nerve during a tense finish, but the long wait was over.
Whitby Town 0-1 Bradford (Park Avenue) – 10th March 2004 – NPL Premier Division
Two days before a daunting midweek trip, long-serving manager Trevor Storton left by mutual consent after a poor run of results which left the club unlikely to make the top 13 – the placing required to make the Conference North which was formed three months later.
Club record goal-scorer Andy Hayward had also left at the same time after being sold to Stalybridge Celtic.
Former Newcastle United left-back and club captain Carl Serrant was asked to take charge of the threadbare side and he even scored the winner. Serrant struck from a free kick to earn Avenue a rare win.
Serrant eventually managed two more games before ex-Leeds United striker Carl Shutt was appointed. Shutt inspired a remarkable run of results to guide them to 17th and then led Avenue into the Conference North via the play-offs by leading them to a 2-0 extra-time win over Burscough – all in the space of two months.
Harrogate Railway 1-0 Goole (October 2003) – NCEL Premier Division
Just a year after the FA Cup second round tie with Bristol City, Railway were searching for a third manager of 2003.
Dave Harrison, who had only replaced Paul Marshall in the summer, resigned after just 11 disastrous games in charge. Railway quickly turned to former Farsley Celtic boss Martin Haresign and he guided them to a first win of the season in his debut game.
He managed to sign Damian Place, Phil Turner and new assistant Ian Blackstone in time for game and it was the latter who scored in the28th minute.
The win moved Railway out of the bottom two
Others have not been so lucky…
Curzon Ashton 3-1 Farsley Celtic – January 1991 – NPL Division One
Bradford City legend Garry Watson chose to leave Farsley due to internal struggles at the club a week earlier after agreeing to see out one final match at Rossendale. The problem was then compounded by a host of players refusing to appear at Curzon.
Stalwart and former captain Graham Sanderson was named caretaker manager and although a team, made up of largely reserve team players were beaten at Curzon, they were given a standing ovation as they left the field.
Darren Sheriden scored for Farsley in that particular game. The Celts then won just once in their next 19 league games and only survived due to a reprieve.
Harrogate Town 0-1 Stafford Rangers – 15th January 2005 – Conference North
New Ossett Town manager John Reed stunned the Non-League world by leaving promotion-chasing Harrogate Town for relegation threatened Stalybridge Celtic – chairman Bill Fotherby was said to have been stunned.
Winger Lee Philpott, only signed by Reed two months earlier, took charge, but couldn’t lead them to victory in his one match at the helm of Harrogate.
Neil Aspin was watching from the stands and he was to be the next permanent manager of Town.