NCEL: Knaresborough secure mid-table finish after Eccleshill win

Colin Heath opened the scoring for Knaresborough in the 17th minute after dominating the early stages but Charlie Flaherty’s goal just before the hour mark pulled the hosts level.

The game looked to be heading to a draw until two goals in just over a minute gave Davey’s side their 11th win away from Manse Lane this season.

Will Lenehan climbed highest from a Graham Whitehead corner to give Knaresborough the lead before Heath selflessly set up Hiliard Serrao to make the points safe.

The win means Davey’s side are certain to finish 12th in Division One this season and the Knaresborough manager was full of praise for his side’s performance on the day.

He said: “We played very well and I thought we were especially strong at the back. We decided to bring Chris Fairhurst into the middle of the park and he did very well in that role.

“We could have been about two or three up before they even had a chance. They had a 20 minute spell in the second half which we had to deal with but we always seem to do well against Eccleshill.

“I was never really nervous in the game considering the side we had out. We had two or three players missing but we were more than capable of replacing them and I knew we were strong.

“It was never a case of us losing but rather how many goals we could score. I thought we could have gone and score three more in that second half and I’m disappointed that we couldn’t score more.”

The win ensured that Davey’s side secured back to back victories in the league for the first time since November and for only the third time this season.

Despite this and a relatively disappointing home record, Davey’s men have enjoyed a successful second season in Division One and have guaranteed themselves a respectable 12th place finish.

Knaresborough will now finish their campaign at home against Hall Road Rangers on Saturday and Davey is aiming to give the home faithful something to cheer about.

He said: “We just want to finish as high as we can, we spent months in that mid-table position but it’s been very hard to get away from that .

“It was a must win game, one of the last chances we have got to go above someone, everybody goes away happy.

“It’s great for the club to end on a high. There’s no reason we can’t put a similar side out and get the win for the supporters.”