Harrogate Railway must learn 'tough lessons' following painful defeat to Dronfield Town

The Starbeck outfit went into the match knowing that victory over their struggling hosts would take them top of the NCEL Division One standings, and raced into a 3-1 lead before half-time.

But they then conspired to concede three times without reply and ended up empty-handed.

"There are some tough lessons to be learned," joint-boss Youhill reflected. "We are always on the front foot, so attack-minded and aggressive in terms of what we are doing going forwards that we seem to forget about defending.

"Our games must be great for the neutral to watch, but in my position, I can't not be concerned about the number of goals we are conceding.

"When you go away from home and score three, you should be able to win the game. But, if you can't defend, it's a problem.

"Teams seem to be able to score quite easily against us. Dronfield didn't really earn those goals, we gave them away through a combination of not stopping crosses into our box, silly mistakes and individual errors.

"But we are a very young side, we are going to make mistakes and as long as we learn from them, then that is what is important."

Alex Clark bagged a brace and Harry Lynn also struck to put Railway in control of Tuesday’s contest before Dronfield fought back.

On Saturday Railway triumphed 4-2 in the FA Vase at Prudhoe Youth Club thanks to goals from Lynn, Owen Dunkley, Jay Payette and Luca Bolino.

They are without a fixture this weekend.