#Farsley Celtic Ladies

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Railway on the Right Tracks

Sunday and I headed down to Station View to cover the WRCWFL Premier Division game between table-topping Farsley Celtic and a closely chasing Harrogate Railway.

I was hoping the recent spell of overcast weather would break in time for the game, as the Met Office had promised that the cloud cover would start to have some gaps after two weeks of total horizon-to-horizon greyness.

The cloud was thinner, and it was a little brighter, but we weren’t to be graced by the sight of blue sky just yet. At least it wasn’t raining – got to take the positives!

It was the Sunday closest to Remembrance Day, so shortly before kick-off both teams stood around the centre circle and fell silent to show their respect for all those that gave up so much for our freedoms and safety.

A short blast on the whistle at the end of the minute and the teams faced each other, ready to battle it out for what could be one of the pivotal fixtures of the season. The 90 minutes that followed wouldn’t disappoint.

The opening stages of the game showed just how good both teams were; Farsley Celtic playing some nice passing football, but with the home team settling the better of the two sides and pushing forward.

In around the tenth minute, a corner won by Railway was delivered beautifully into the Celtic penalty area where Caitlyn Atkin met it perfectly and volleyed the ball past Leigh Bamford, the Farsley keeper, and into the roof of the net, 1-0.

Things were about to get better for the home team more or less straight from the restart as Railway won possession and attacked down their right. Krista Shuttleworth got onto the ball and ran in towards the Farsley penalty box; a little look up and a deft lob beat the Celtic stopper who was off her goal line, 2-0.

Harrogate Railway were looking sharp, with decisive direct attacks that were causing the visitors all sorts of problems. However, Farsley Celtic were certainly not out of this game, and were showing signs of their own attacking prowess.

As the half-hour mark approached, Celtic were clawing their way back into the game, starting to win a lot of the 50-50 challenges, attacking down both wings, and creating some good half-chances…but being honest, without seriously troubling Charlotte Donnelly in goal.

That was about to change.

Having created a couple of good chances and wasting them, Farsley attacked down their right and laid a ball across the Railway penalty box, with their skipper Lauren Rigby collecting it and calmly finishing into the bottom left of the goal, 2-1.

With around ten minutes of the first half remaining, the visitors were in the ascendency, causing Railway all sorts of problems, pushing them back into their own half and making the Station View side defend deep. Farsley were to create two further chances to score…one in particular, put wide when in reality they should have hit the back of the net.

The half-time whistle blew, and Harrogate Railway headed in 2-1 up, but probably the more relieved of the two teams to have reached the break and still find themselves ahead.

The first 30 minutes had belonged to the team from Harrogate, and they could have scored more. Farsley weren’t top of the league for nothing, they had come back strongly in the final 15 minutes and could have scored more than the one that they had.

Second half got underway, and it was Harrogate Railway that raced out of the blocks, seemingly determined to reassert their control on the game.

Just shy of the 15-minute mark, Rail won a throw-in on their left. A ball from Caitlyn Atkin to Krista Shuttleworth saw the tricky forward run across the edge of the Celtic penalty box with three defenders trying to close her down. Reaching the right side of the box, Krista created enough space to get her shot away, lobbing the keeper to score her second and give Railway a two-goal cushion, 3-1.

Farsley’s response was to push forward down their right and move the ball across the pitch to the left side. Their winger cut inside, angling for the box, creating a glorious chance to instantly respond but couldn’t hit the target.

Farsley Celtic were now pressing hard to get back into the game, and another chance saw Charlotte race out from her goal line to meet the oncoming striker…clearing the ball with a sliding challenge to put it out for a throw-in to the visitors…a wonderful bit of goalkeeping to command her area.

Farsley were turning the screw a little bit at this stage of the game, but Railway’s defence was handling the threats well and increasingly restricting the visitors to long range shots from outside the box.

With about a quarter of the game remaining, Rail were increasingly counter attacking the visitors as spaces were opening up. In one foray forward, a ball in from the left found Elisa Hodson who stepped across the centre back, and with only the keeper to beat, fired the ball wide.

As the minutes ticked by, Railway were starting to dominate once more and another incisive run down the left saw a high ball sent into the box; Elisa rose to try and head it, stretching with every sinew to get something on it but…it was just a little too high for her to make contact.

Farsley picked the ball up and immediately pushed forward, getting to just outside the Railway penalty area before sending in another shot which was comfortably collected by Charlotte.

With time running out, Elisa was to have another chance, putting her effort over the bar this time…but Railway were playing some good football and looked the more likely of the two teams to score.

Into injury time and Paige Swales played a wonderful ball into Georgia Binns who turned the Farsley Defender and sent an unstoppable shot past the Celtic stopper into the roof of the net to seal the game, 4-1.

There had been a few stoppages in the half, so there was a little bit of injury time to add on, and it was Harrogate who were to capitalise in the final few minutes. 

A pass back from a Farsley defender towards the keeper was under hit and the lively Elisa pounced on the opportunity. Controlling the ball with her first touch, she skipped around the keeper and with her mother Jules watching from the technical area, sent it unerringly over the line from the angle…a wonderful finish and a goal that her performance deserved, 5-1.

The full-time whistle blew shortly after and Railway had won 5-1, collected a vital three points, and underlined why they will be up at the top of the league fighting for promotion in March/April.

The margin of the scoreline was probably a little unfair on the visitors, as Farsley Celtic played some good football, controlled a few periods of play throughout the game, and could have scored more. They achieved promotion last season, and I am certain on the evidence from Sunday that they will be in the reckoning come the end of this one too.

Goals: Caitlyn Atkin, Krista Shuttleworth (2), Georgia Binns, Elisa Hodson. POTM: Lou Donnelly. Referee: Amy Fern.

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Match Reaction: Harrogate Railway Ladies 5-1 Farsley Celtic Women

Our article and photos from the game will be published in the next 24 hours - please keep an eye out for them, links will be on our social media accounts.

All images available to purchase for personal digital download use and in print, get in touch to find out more. Details here.

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Football in the Sun

I got a message from Richard Burns asking if I was available to cover a couple of games that were happening on Sunday. At that point, I was committed to a preseason game elsewhere, but as things turned out, that game fell through, and I was able to say yes.

I’m glad I did.

Harrogate Railway had arranged a Ladies Day charity event, with the aim to raise money towards Dee Swales’ cancer treatment, which is not available on the NHS.

The event was a double header of football, with Railway’s firsts and reserves in action, helping all the teams taking part with their preseason preparations, and of course raising much needed funds.

The first game up at midday was Railway Reserves against neighbours Knaresborough Town Women, a repeat of their rivalry last season in the West Riding County Women’s Football League Division Four.

Town got off to a flier, scoring quickly and settling into a rhythm within the first ten minutes of the game.

It has been written elsewhere, that on days like these, the actual score isn’t important…and that is completely correct; but an obvious benefit of taking part is that all of the players get a good runout ahead of the start of the new league campaign.

That’s not to say it wasn’t competitive!

The first game came to an end with Knaresborough winning and both teams showcasing a crop of young players who really impressed.

The Railway management team voted Ellis Baxter as Knaresborough Town’s player of the match, and Boro’s coach gave Rail’s stopper, Maria Chatzistamou the player of the match award for an absolutely outstanding performance between the sticks.

Railway’s first team were next up playing Farsley Celtic Women and what an amazing game that was! Over the course of the 90 minutes, the impetus pulsated back and forth between the two sides, with some great interplay.

Chances came and went; the frame of the goals were tested several times as both sets of players showed that they wanted to win.

Railway struck first, with Farsley equalising before half time. The second half continued where the first left off, with Dee unlucky not to score as she struck a beautiful shot past a stranded Farsley keeper from the edge of the box, thundering the ball against the bar and rebounding out.

As the final whistle blew, Railway’s first team had earned a narrow victory with Harrogate’s Paige Swales voted player of the match.

The games were important but there was obviously something more so, and that was the football family coming together to show support and to help one of their own.

At the time of writing, the amount raised is £2,656 but more donations would be welcome. You can find the Justgiving page here…

If there was one footballing thing to take away from Railway’s Ladies Day…with the number of young, very talented footballers on display…the future of local women’s football is very bright!

Well done to everyone who organised and took part to make the day very successful and thank you for inviting me.