Knaresborough Town’s 1-0 win at Bottesford Town was ‘strangely soothing', says Paul Stansfield

Knaresborough Town manager Paul Stansfield. Picture: Caught Light Photography

Boro had lost their previous two NCEL Premier Division outings - to Hemswoth and Barton Town - despite playing some good football and creating plenty of chances.

And, having been left frustrated with a return of zero points from those encounters, Stansfield admitted that the response he got from his players in Lincolnshire provided him with the perfect tonic.

"We just did a job. We were very solid, there were no frills and we ground it out," the Boro boss reflected.

Knaresborough Town are back in action at Manse Lane on Saturday afternoon. Picture: Craig Dinsdale

"We want to play good, exciting football, create plenty of chances and score lots of goals, however we've created loads in our last two games and got beat, so this might not have been pretty, but it was strangely soothing.

"The spine of the team was strong, the back-four played well and I'm pleased for Alfie [Stevens-Neale] because he deserved a clean-sheet. It's about time we kept one."

Josh Wicks' 15th-minute header from a Thomas Dugdale cross proved sufficient to earn Boro maximum points at Bottesford, a result that leaves them with two wins and two defeats from their opening four NCEL Premier outings.

"It's been okay overall, certainly a lot better than our start to last season and we've had three long away trips to contend with, but we can do better," Stansfield added.

"We'd targeted nine points from the first 12, so we're not where we want to be. We need to keep working hard."

Next up for Stansfield and his men is a meeting with struggling Eccleshill United in what will be the club's first home league fixture on a Saturday since March 7.

"I can't stress enough how desperate we are to get people down to the ground this weekend," the Boro boss said.

"We haven't played at home in the league on a Saturday for such a long time. We'd love to get a good crowd in and we would also like to be able to give people a game of football that they can actually go to and enjoy.

"Any football fans in the area, any Harrogate Town supporters, we'd love to see you at Manse Lane on Saturday."

Kick-off between Boro and Eccleshill on Saturday is at 3pm.