Knaresborough Town make positive start to 'tough' January as Silsden AFC are seen off

Knaresborough Town's players celebrate after Philip Milsom (3) fired them into a first-half lead against Silsden. Pictures: Gerard Binks

Simon Parkes predicted that January would be a tough month for his Knaresborough Town side, so was thrilled to see them get 2023 underway with a hard-earned victory.

In addition to playing seventh-placed Silsden, whom they beat 1-0 at Manse Lane on Saturday, Boro also face NCEL Premier Division promotion-hopefuls Hemsworth (5th) and Emley (3rd) before the start of February.

But, buoyed by Saturday's success which came courtesy of Phil Milsom's 23rd-minute strike, Town will head into their upcoming fixtures looking to continue their own push into the top half of the table.

"It's the perfect way to start what looks like it will be a difficult month," Parkes said.

Boro's Joe Navier hurdles the challenge of a visiting defender.

"Silsden are a very strong footballing side who knock the ball around nicely and will be pushing for promotion.

"It was the first of four tough fixtures in January, but we've started 2023 positively and we've just got to keep momentum going. As I keep telling the players, if we can go on and pick up a second and a third result then that will make the difference in terms of the league standings."

On Saturday’s performance against Silsden, Parkes added: "It was a very strong performance by the lads and I think we deserved the result, we were the better team.

"The pleasing thing was that we learned from the mistakes of our previous two matches. We created more chances, we got more bodies in the box and we were ruthless enough to win the game.”

Next up for Boro is this Saturday’s trip to Hemsworth, 3pm kick-off.