Harrogate Railway overturn two-goal deficit once again to record another fine comeback victory
Harrogate Railway showed their fighting qualities once again as they overturned a two-goal deficit to win 3-2 for the second successive Saturday.
Rob Youhill’s team conceded twice during the first half of their home showdown with Kinsley Boys, but managed to take all three points courtesy of another spirited recovery after the break.
Winless in four NCEL Division One outings since their opening-day success over South Leeds, the Starbeck outfit seemed destined for another defeat after conceding twice inside the opening 33 minutes of last Saturday’s game against Ilkley Town.
But, having dug deep to snatch victory in that contest through Charlie Lack’s late strike, they repeated the trick again thanks to an Alex Burton brace.
Very little went right for Railway during the first half of the contest, including significant refereeing decisions.
With nine minutes on the clock, striker Burton was denied a clear run on the away goal by a cynical handball by a Kinsley defender, however the man in the middle deemed that denial of a clear goal-scoring opportunity worthy of only a yellow card.
The Rail then fell behind on 16 minutes when Jack White calmly slotted past Will Mitchell after beating the offside trap.
Mitchell was then beaten again in a one-on-one situation as Kyle Rose struck just before the interval to put Kinsley two up.
Railway could have been forgiven for thinking that it was not their day when Steve Smith lifted a clever finish over the visiting goalkeeper to pull one back on the hour-mark, only to see the flag raised for an extremely close offside call.
But, Youhill’s troops did not throw in the towel, and got the rewards in the 68th minute as Burton found the net after a free-kick delivery broke for him inside the penalty area.
An equaliser then arrived just six minutes later. Connor Mayall’s corner was headed goalwards by Sam Drake and Ali Banks was on hand to help the ball past Harvey Giles.
The Rail then completed the turnaround barely 60 seconds after drawing themselves level.
Jack Mason crossed the ball and found Burton, who took a clever touch to see off a sliding defender, then picked out the top corner of the Kinsley net for 3-2.
Victory leaves Railway 15th in the table with 10 points to their name from eight matches. They return to action on Tuesday evening when they entertain Route One Rovers (7.45pm) before travelling to Selby Town this Saturday (3pm).