Harrogate Railway boss Mick O'Connell hails players' work ethic after Rossington Main success

Harrogate Railway manager Mick O'Connell. Pictures: Craig Dinsdale

Mick O’Connell hailed the work ethic of his Harrogate Railway side following Saturday’s victory over promotion rivals Rossington Main.

Second-half strikes from Albert Ibrahimi and Elliot Holmes sealed a 2-0 success for the Starbeck outfit, a result which saw them leapfrog their visitors and go third in NCEL Division One.

And, while O’Connell conceded that there were aspects of the performance that he wasn’t thrilled by, he insisted that his players deserve credit for grafting to secure a “great” result.

"That’s one thing about this group, their mentality is just to work. They’re fit and they work hard. That’s us, that’s our ethos, that is what this club is about,” the Rail boss reflected.

Rossington Main goalkeeper Kian Johnson was shown a straight red card after wiping out Harrogate Railway striker Albert Ibrahimi shortly after half-time.

"We don’t have a big budget, we expect people to come here and work for the badge, roll their sleeves up and really fight, so you can’t knock this group of players. They turn up every single week and never let us down.

"All credit to the boys. Taking three points off Rossington is no mean feat, this is a club with very good players and, by comparison to ours, they’ve got a massive budget. So, it’s a great result for us.

"I thought we started very sloppy, we lost battles in the first 10 minutes but then we changed shape slightly and after that we really got to grips with the game.

"It was a tough game but I thought we dominated for large periods. If anything, I thought Rossington were better when they went down to 10 men, which happens because they’ve nothing to lose, however I thought we nullified their threats and I’m delighted to get three points.”