Knaresborough Town lose ground in NCEL Premier Division following Liversedge FC loss
Knaresborough Town missed out on the chance to go fifth in the NCEL Premier Division after they went down 3-1 at Liversedge.
Simon Parkes’ men continued their promising start to the 2025/26 season with a 4-2 victory over Penistone Church in midweek, but were undone by another of their fellow promotion-hopefuls on Saturday afternoon.
Liversedge had the better of the first half and deservedly went into the interval ahead.
Dan Hartley broke the deadlock on 21 minutes when he rose highest to head home a right-wing corner, then Ryan Watson’s drive from the edge of the area took a faint deflection to put Liversedge 2-0 up.
Danny Edwards had the chance to halve the deficit early in the second half as he ran clean through on goal, but former Boro stopper Jamie Hassall – on as a substitute – denied him.
Watson made the visitors pay for that miss, wrapping things up by adding a third in the 65th minute after Antony Brown had robbed Town centre-half Sam Cook and fed his team-mate.
Cook then released Slater Barnes, only for Hassall to again save the day, with Max Barnard next to spurn a fine chance for Boro.
But, Parkes’ men would eventually pull a goal back through Ezio de Santis, who fired home a low effort with his first touch to make it 3-1 in the 85th minute.
In midweek, Knaresborough fell behind at home to Penistone as Bradley Kemp slotted in at the far post, though the hosts levelled in fortuitous circumstances on 19 minutes.
Aaron White beat his marker on the right and delivered a cross, only for the ball to loop over Harry Ambler and into the far corner of the net.
Two minutes later, Ben Gelder and Barnes combined to set up White to curl a fine shot just inside the post.
Gelder was then rewarded for his persistence with a goal of his own just before half-time.
Leon Hurles-Brook pulled one back for Penistone six minutes into the second period, though Jack Lazenby extinguished any hopes of a fightback when he met Sam Leverrett’s corner and finished from close range.
With seven games played this term, Knaresborough sit seventh in the table, with 11 points to their name.