Wetherby Road: Harrogate Town 2-2 Doncaster Rovers

Harrogate Town 2-2 Doncaster Rovers

A last minute opportunity to visit Wetherby Road for an all Yorkshire derby between Harrogate Town and Doncaster Rovers. This was the first time Doncaster Rovers have played at Wetherby Road which saw a decent following from the South Yorkshire outfit who's form has collapsed since February where I saw them lose 2-0 to Sutton United. Since then they have only seen one victory and, even though they are mid-table, the supporters are beginning to get restless with manager Danny Schofield and the board's lack of funding. As for Harrogate Town, they are in the lower echelons of League 2 fighting for their lives coming back from losing positions to earning vital draws in their last two fixtures. With this in mind, it was set up to be a rather entertaining afternoon of football in the April sunshine as we approach the end of the season. With work commitments in the morning, I set off at 11.30am heading northbound on the M1 up to junction 45 before going through the pleasant market town of Wetherby reaching Wetherby Road by 1.30pm. An excellent straightforward journey and even managing to park my car on Wedderburn Road, just a stone's throw away from the ground. It was just a 5 minute leisurely walk up Wetherby Road before I reached the football ground on the right hand side where already a large number of Doncaster Rovers' supporters were making their way through the turnstiles. Wetherby Road is a decent lower league football ground that has seen recent renovations since their promotion to the Football League including the removal of their artificial pitch which saw them groundshare with Doncaster Rovers at the beginning of the 2020-21 season. With space limitations due to the ambulance station, housing and the road behind four sides of the ground, future expansion would possibly require a move. With a capacity of 5,000 supporters, this should be large enough for Harrogate Town who currently average around 2,500 each match. Battling Harrogate Town are currently the comeback kings after recovering from two goals down against Doncaster Rovers to draw 2-2 for a third consecutive game in League Two. With identical comebacks against AFC Wimbledon and Leyton Orient, the relegation threatened hosts once more showed their determination to fight for every point as second half goals from Luke Armstrong and Tom Eastman cancelled out Aidan Barlow and Luke Molyneux strikes for Doncaster Rovers. Molyneux drifted inside from the left to tee up the opening goal, finding Barlow who bent an excellent effort from the edge of the box beyond Mark Oxley and inside the far post on 34 minutes. Early in the second half, Donny doubled their advantage. In the 47th minute, Kieran Agard charged down the right and sent in a low cross from which Molyneux's 12 yard shot deflected off right-back Toby Sims and past Oxley. But the spirited hosts reduced the deficit three minutes later when trickery close to the right byline from Sam Folarin teed up a chance for Armstrong which he bundled over the line at the second attempt to make it 1-2. Simon Weaver's men then levelled on the hour mark when the visitors could only clear a high ball as far as Eastman whose firm first time 20-yard strike nestled into Jonathan Mitchell's bottom left corner sending the Harrogate Town faithful into raptures, 2-2. The hosts then had great opportunities to win the contest late on but were forced to settle for their ninth draw in 13 matches. Harrogate remain in 21st place and are now three points above the relegation zone. As for the visitors, they are safely positioned mid table however with disgruntled supporters calling for the sacking of Danny Schofield and frustrations towards the board's lack of funding, they will be hoping for a summer rebuild and a promotion push next season. A prompt exit at full time saw me back the car just before 5pm and on my way towards Wetherby and the M1 southbound. Another excellent journey saw me back home before 7pm.

Harrogate Town 6-1 Scunthorpe United

An afternoon to remember for both Harrogate Town and myself (Adrian), for Town their best win as a Football League club and, at the time, a record home attendance of 3,180, for me the realisation that despite success on the field for Harrogate Town in only their 2nd full season as a league club, a rather poor set up regarding match tickets and access. Some points down to poor administration some due to where the ground is located. I arrived in good time, expecting to either pay at the turnstiles or more likely these days, go to the ticket office to buy a ticket. Clubs prefer it this way as no cash is in the turnstile area and makes extra handling unnecessary. I was met with a rather strange situation where neither option was open to me. I ventured into the clubs small office where I was informed that no tickets were available at the ground but if any left at the town centre shop on Commercial Road. I wasn’t on my own, several other people arrived behind me in a similar predicament. I had just walked from the town centre to the Wetherby Road ground, so I ran / jogged / walked back into town, to this club store bought a ticket and then briskly returned to the ground. Big queues outside trying to gain entry, two turnstiles appeared to be in operation and an outside security company very much on view. The location of the stadium makes a decent crowd difficult to man manage. A main road, a narrow path and with members of the general public unable to pass and a lady at a bus stop unable to see and hail her daily service to a local village, the situation is shall we say challenging. I finally got in at 2:55, one of the security men recognised me from my earlier visit and congratulated me on my fitness! So to the incidental thing of the match itself. In short Harrogate were excellent, Scunthorpe shocking. They are currently bottom of the league and on that effort, the non-league pyramid awaits. Town needed just 8 minutes to take the lead. They had already gone close on two occasions. Jack Diamond crossed from the left Ryan Fallowfield headed against the bar and striker Jack Muldoon reacted superbly to head home the loose ball. Further goals followed either side of the quarter hour. Firstly Diamond bamboozled two Scunthorpe players, released Muldoon who in turn found Alex Pattison who drilled home. Sunderland loanee Diamond then got in the act himself cutting in from the left before drilling an edge of the box strike into the bottom corner. He then turned provider for the next goal. Another rapid break away, this time he was on the right, squaring the ball for Pattison to score from 7 yards. Then in first half stoppage time it was Alex Pattison who hoisted over a cross from the left and Muldoon beat the beleaguered Rory Watson in the Scunthorpe goal for a 5th, all in the first half. Smoke bombs were launched on to the field in the last few minutes of the first half by visiting fans, probably as a protest and during half time Scunthorpe players emerged from the dressing rooms very early to do what can only be described as some half-hearted running between halfway line and penalty area. Except Ryan Loft who decided he would re-lace his boots. The contest was over, indeed it had been after 16 minutes so the second half was a bit tedious and scrappy at times. Scunthorpe were marginally improved but only marginally! Things didn’t get any better for Loft, the Scunthorpe striker was subbed on the hour and reacted by hurling his face protector to the ground. Harry Davis headed home Alfie Beestins cross in the 79th minute but Harrogate then went up field and regained their 5 goal cushion, this time from a penalty by Danilo Orsi one of the subs after another sub Simon Power had been dragged down by Scunthorpe left back Lewis Thompson. Thompson had already been booked so with a second yellow card, he was then sent off. I was in line, it was a clear penalty but no reaction from the linesman which I found surprising, the referee making the decision. So an entertaining game overall, Harrogate Town are certainly going to be there or thereabouts. They have two strikers that can get goals at this level in Armstrong and Muldoon, and if they continue to get the service Town could surprise many. Who said 4-4-2 doesn’t work in 2021! Not much I can say about their opponents Scunthorpe, they appear to have big problems which may not be able to be fixed quickly. In the last few years we have seen the Iron over achieve and perform at second tier level, sadly those days seem long gone in the short term. At the final whistle our security friends were all getting into position denying me access to Wetherby Road from the main entrance. One assumes the dangers of the main road and football fans being the main concern. I had to exit through the local hospital car park. Again this would not have been easy. The barriers were down so fans could pass through only one at a time. An eventful experience The ground is small, several covered stands, low capacity and clearly if Harrogate Town are to be successful as a football league club, re-location is the only way forward. They will probably not agree but you have to have tickets available to buy at the ground, not 25 mins away in the town centre. But maybe a warning to myself and fans heading to this North Yorkshire spa town, prepare yourself, view the website and buy a ticket in advance. The atmosphere was also slightly odd. The town is up market and middle class, full of tea shops and restaurants. Football fans of the club are all very polite, applause for taking the knee, respectful applause during the game and for many minutes during the game it was played out in almost total silence. A few of the younger brigade did burst into the odd song, but one suspects the more vocal of fans in the town still migrate to nearby Elland Road.

Wetherby Road

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Harrogate Town 2-2 Doncaster Rovers

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