Harrogate Railway aiming to get back 'on the horse' after cup defeats

The Starbeck outfit’s recent six-match unbeaten run came to an end last week as they bowed out of two different cup competitions in the space of four days.

Mick O’Connell’s side went down 2-0 at NCEL Division One rivals Brigg Town in the FA Vase on Saturday, then suffered a 6-0 reverse at the hands of Ilkley Town in the West Riding County Cup on Tuesday evening.

Rail used their midweek outing as an opportunity to blood some of their younger players and rotate their squad, with this weekend’s league clash at home to Beverley (3pm) very much boss O’Connell’s priority.

The Irishman has been clear that mounting another push for promotion is the club’s number one aim for the season and, as such, he wasn’t overly upset about Saturday’s loss at Brigg.

"The score didn’t reflect the game, I thought it was very even and the two teams really cancelled each other out,” said O’Connell, who led Railway to the 2021/22 play-off final.

"There wasn’t a great deal of attacking threat from either side, it was a game of very few chances but we’ve conceded from second phases off two set-plays, which is disappointing.

“The only positive is that we haven’t dropped league points. Obviously we wanted a run in the FA Vase, but realistically are we good enough to win it? No.

"That’s our Vase run over, but we’ll concentrate on the league, we’ll keep digging in and putting points on the board because that is our bread and butter and we’ve got to do well.

"Obviously we are disappointed because we want to win every single game of football, but we just need to get back on the horse against Beverley.”

Railway head into this weekend’s fixture third in the table having won all of their previous four league fixtures.

Beverley, who were promoted from the Humber Premier League at the end of last season, currently sit in 12th position with five victories to their name from their opening 13 matches.