Hall Road 0-0 Harrogate Railway

Hall Road Rangers played out a goalless draw at Haworth Park on Saturday as they drew 0-0 against Harrogate Railway Athletic. Six changes were made to the side that started Tuesday night’s NCEL League Cup Second Round defeat against Grimsby Borough. Tom Macauley, Jacob Galloway, Tom Bennett, Craig Muirhead, Chris Spinks and Sam Robinson all came back into the starting 11.

The first real chance of the game arrived in the 8th minute when Chris Spinks had a shot saved by the Harrogate Railway keeper Joe Wilton. Spinks was involved in the creation of Hall Road’s next opportunity which came in the 19th minute. His set-piece delivery was met by Tom Bennett who put his header over the bar.

Harrogate Railway did threaten the Rangers goal on a couple of occasions in the latter stages of the first half. Marcus Day produced a couple of efforts that went wide. Just before the break, Hall Road had a penalty appeal turned down by the referee. This came when Reece Moody appeared to be pushed inside the Harrogate Railway box. However, the referee was unmoved and this ensured that it was level at the break.

There weren’t many real opportunities created for either side in the second half. The only major chance for Rangers fell to Reece Moody in the 73rd minute. Moody was on the end of a Sam Robinson cross and saw his effort come back off the post after a good counter-attacking move.

Rob Youhill provided the main threat from a Harrogate Railway perspective in the last few minutes of the game. There were a couple of dangerous crosses flashed into the Rangers box as the Rail finished the stronger of the two sides.

However, the Rangers defence remained strong as they prevented Harrogate Railway from leaving Haworth Park with all three points. Hall Road joint boss Leon Sewell felt that a draw was a fair result based on the complexion of the game itself.

“I had a good chat with Mick after the game and we agreed that it was either going to be 0-0 or a one goal win for either side. I think the work ethic of both teams cancelled one another out. If I’m honest, I thought we had the better chances and their keeper kept them in the game.

It was a good advert for NCEL Division One football. Both teams lacked composure at times and I thought the football was a bit rushed.  It was rushed because both teams pressed aggressively and quite hard and that’s why we ultimately cancelled each other out” Sewell said.

Report by: Oliver Harsley