Midweek away, and I was only working 15 miles away, so I whipped over to support the lads after work. The ground itself was a throwback to some of the grounds i went to as a kid in the 70’s, portakabins and corrugated sheeting for fences, the pitch looked like ti had been built on the side of an old roman hill, but the rest of the hill had been taken away after the Roman occupation. And the wind, jeez, it was like a Saturday in November – sunny and cold, descending into night and really cold, it was bloody freezing.
Omens weren’t good, when during warm up, Phil Harrison is seen leaning on Rachels arm for support as he goes back into the dressing room (or did he know something we didn’t?).
Anyway i’m not gonna re-write history, i’ll put my post from the forum up which will sum up the game
Unfortunately, I have to agree with IAMNOTABADMAN. Conditions were difficult, windy and bloody cold.
Harrogate Railway (HR) played a very quick counter attacking game, given an average age of about 23, they soon had our lads chasing a few shadows – the 3 at the back played well throughout, but we got caught cold 3 times by the counter attacking down the channels, and the “wing backs” or “wide midfielders” (whatever they’re called) were just getting caught out of position when we were attacking. Harps and Stoney I thought played well, Greavsie was out of the game for long periods, due to little or no service.
After going 1 down in the 1st half, we had some good chances and finally broke through with a fine header by Wayne H. We continued to press for the second goal, but got caught with a sucker punch. That just seemed to knock the stuffing out of us, and for the rest of the game struggled to get into it again. We became more and more direct as the game went on, and when the 3rd goal went in, we reverted to a back four and pushed Harps forward to support the front two. But by then the damage had been done and we were 15 minutes from the end.
HR had a couple of players that bossed the game (no’s 8 and 10) and looked very comfortable at this level. The game did get a little niggly, Liam B being the main protagonist (how he didnt get lamped tonight i’ll never know).
For the 15 or so away fans (and 14 away players), this will be a night to forget, however i’m sure the memories will be as vivid as a Freddy Kruger nightmare. Phil Harrison must have ahd a vision, because he strained a toe muscle in the warm up…..
Ash and Stoney need to pick the boys up, for what will be a tremendous game/day on saturday.
Regards
A tired, just warmed back up, fed up but smiling.
zin
Only three other posters, Malcolm and IAMNOTABADMAN and Teach whose “The unacceptable display at Harrogate was added to by a calf injury to Phil Harrison – this is a recurring problem for Phil and could keep him out for 3 or 4 weeks.” was more to the point.
I’m gutted that i can’t make the next three games but hope everyone has a good time on Saturday. Good luck and lets hope tonights performance was a blip.
