Knaresborough Town put frustration of late abandonment behind them thanks to home win over Handsworth FC

Two goals in quick succession at the end of the first half proved sufficient to earn Simon Parkes’ team a 2-0 NCEL Premier Division victory on Saturday afternoon.

And, in addition to lifting them up to 11th place in the table, that result will also go some way to making up for the disappointment of missing out on three points against the Pikes last time out.

With Knaresborough leading that game 2-1 with just five minutes of normal time remaining, floodlight failure caused proceedings to draw to a halt, with the match referee then prematurely deciding to abandon the fixture.

But, there was to be no denying Boro a maximum return at the weekend.

The hosts began strongly, with all the early pressure coming from them. Slater Barnes drew a good save from James Pollard in the away goal, then saw another shot blocked, before Jack Lazenby forced an even better stop out of the Handsworth goalkeeper with a curving effort.

Will Lenehan was next to test Pollard, but his attempted lob from all of 50 yards out was easily gathered.

The opening goal arrived in the 38th minute when Lazenby delivered a left-wing free-kick that was turned home by Ben Gelder to take his tally for the season into double figures.

Alex Wonham came close to equalising for Handsworth with a header from Mitchell Dunne’s cross from the left, however it was Knaresborough who were to bag the game's all-important next goal in stoppage time.

Jack Dyche saw a shot blocked out for a corner, and Lazenby’s curling ball in from the resulting corner caused havoc in the away box, with Pollard only able to help that dangerous delivery into the roof of his own net.

Brandon Bagley’s strike was deflected wide as Handsworth tried to claw back the deficit after the interval, before Boro's 16-year-old debutant goalkeeper Jake Turnbull kept out a header from Ben Harriott.

Dyche fired wide at the other end before Turnbull was called upon again to deal with Dunne’s angled shot from the left.

As Handsworth continued to press, Dunne headed into the side-netting before Turnbull produced a save to equal Pollard’s early effort when he tipped over a dipping, goal-bound blast from Dunne.

Sam Barker had a late chance to improve the home team's margin of victory, however Pollard managed to get his leg in the way of that low shot and the lead remained at two.

Knaresborough had however already done enough to ensure that they would be taking all three points.

Last Tuesday night, a 19th-minute Barker finish from Barnes' pass had Boro a goal to the good against Pickering.

An error from goalkeeper Callum Bradbury gifted Pikes striker Souleymane Coulibaly an equaliser before the break, though Gelder then nodded home two minutes after the resumption to edge Parkes troops back ahead.

Around half of Manse Lane's floodlights then went out following a power cut in the local area and, after preliminary checks, all were turned off for a short period.

The referee had allowed 15 minutes for the issue to be rectified, despite league guidance stating that a period of 30 minutes would be normal to allow for the lamps to cool and then relight.

Within 20 minutes, all of the floodlights were back on and operating at full luminescence, but the whistle had already been sounded.