Harrogate Railway boss Mick O'Connell relieved after Ollerton Town success

Harrogate Railway manager Mick O'Connell. Picture: Gerard Binks

Mick O’Connell admitted that he was a relieved man after his Harrogate Railway side got back to winning ways at Ollerton Town on Saturday.

The Starbeck club have made no secret of their ambition to replicate last season’s top-five finish, but have lost ground in the NCEL Division One promotion race in recent weeks following back-to-back draws against Beverley Town and Horbury Town.

Saturday’s 1-0 victory keeps them fourth in the table, however O’Connell has warned his troops that they cannot afford to keep dropping points on a regular basis.

"Saturday’s win was massive for us after dropping four points in the previous two games,” the Rail boss told the Harrogate Advertiser.

Albert Ibrahimi rifles home the only goal of the game during Harrogate Railway's NCEL Division One victory at Ollerton Town. Picture: Craig Dinsdale

"We can’t continue doing that so regularly if we’ve got aspirations of making the play-offs again, and we’ve made no secret about that being our aim this year.

"We really need to be winning near enough every week to remain in contention and stay on the coat-tails of the teams above us in the table.

"We want to be comfortable in a top-five position come Christmas so that we’re then well-placed to really try and kick on during the second half of the season.”

Striker Albert Ibrahimi netted the only goal of Saturday’s contest shortly after half-time, registering just his second strike of the campaign to date.

"I’m really pleased for Albert, I think everyone is really pleased for him because he’s been absolutely brilliant the last few games,” O’Connell added.

"His all-round play has been excellent, he’s just not been scoring goals, but now he’s got that one, hopefully he goes on and gets plenty more.”

Reflecting on Saturday’s match as a whole, O’Connell continued: “The conditions were difficult and Ollerton is a tough place to go, but in my opinion we were in complete control of the game for pretty much the full 90 minutes.

"We dominated from start to finish and created a lot of good chances. It could have been 3-0 or 4-0 quite easily, but we’re just not putting these opportunities away at the moment.”

This Saturday, Railway entertain fellow high-flyers Rossington Main. Kick-off at Station View is at 3pm.