Ekin insists: We don’t fear Bardsey
hsb Boroughbridge v Ripon City. Paul Eagling pictured last season at Boroughbridge 110423M2a.
Boroughbridge manager Daz Ekin insists his side have nothing to fear when they travel to WYA league leaders Bardsey on Saturday (kick-off 2pm).
Mid-table ‘Bridge lost 3-1 at Carlton Athletic on Saturday, but the boss was heartened by a stirring display and a goal from returning captain Paul Eagling.
Eagling has returned to ‘Bridge after half a season with NCEL Division One side Knaresborough Town.
Boss Ekin said: “We transferred Eagling this week.
“He has done well for Knaresborough Town, but his time was up there.
“He wanted to come back to Boroughbridge, where he was captain last season.
“It is great news for us, we are very happy to have him back in the team.”
Ahead of the Bardsey test, Ekin urged his players to be at their best.
Bardsey sit second in the West Yorkshire Premier , three points behind Ripon City, with four games in hand.
They led the league for much of the opening half of the season, and knocked Oxenhope Recreation out of the West Riding County Cup 5-1 away from home on Saturday.
He said: “We know getting a result there will be a tough ask.
“But the week after we have the cup match against Robin Hood, Athletic.
“So it is a good match, to work hard and be ready for the cup tie the week after.”
He added: “People expect us to go to places and get results, we are that sort of team, so we will do our best to get a result on Saturday.”
The manager is keen to bring in more new faces after the arrival of Eagling.
He said: “I have been looking at players in the past couple of weeks, and there are a few who are interested.
“We are still waiting to get confirmation before they join us.
“I am keen to bring some new faces in, to try and improve the squad.
“That is as much for next season as this one, we need to strengthen.”
The boss believes there are players in the squad already who could be giving more, however.
He explained: “We are training this week, and we want to push the team to their limits.
“I want more of a reaction from some players.
“Two-thirds of them are doing well, we are just being let down by a few.”
He added: “There were a lot of players who came back from a couple of weeks off, chomping at the bit to get back out and play, though.
“That was great to see, we just need everyone to be the same.”
On Saturday, ‘Bridge failed to convert a number of early chances.
Carlton were 2-0 ahead at half-time, although ‘Bridge responded strongly after the break.
Eagling pulled one back but Carlton hit ‘Bridge on the break in the dying stages to secure the points.
The result moved the hosts to within six points of ‘Bridge, who sit eighth in the Premier Division.
The manager said: “It was a tough match at Carlton.
“We shot ourselves in the foot again, though.
“We had plenty of chances early on and we did not take them.”
‘Bridge have not drawn a match away from home yet this season, and have scored 16 goals on their travels.
The boss said: “We pride ourselves in scoring goals, but it didn’t happen, and we couldn’t get the clean sheet.
“We pushed hard for an equaliser, and hit the bar a number of times.
“We just didn’t have the luck, which showed as Carlton got the break at the end of the match.”
This weekend, Steven Paffett and Mark Burniston serve the second match of their suspensions,
Matt Thompson is expected to miss three to four weeks of fixtures following an operation.
Liam Healy joins Thompson on the sidelines for the trip to Bardsey.
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Weather for Harrogate
Friday 24 May 2013
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