Harrogate Railway striker Nathan Cartman scores the dramatic winner in the 1-0 victory over Clitheroe. Photo: Caught Light Photography
The Evo Stik Division One North top goal-scorer Nathan Cartman made up for a missed penalty by scoring a sensational injury-time winner to fire Harrogate Railway to three straight wins with a 1-0 victory over Clitheroe.
Cartman’s 80th minute penalty was saved by Clitheroe goalkeeper Matt Green so the chance to nick all three points in the tight match looked to have gone.
But, the striker showed fantastic desire to keep Mike Morris’ long downfield punt in play and the former Liversedge player then managed to score from a seemingly impossible angle in the dying seconds.
Railway were bottom of the table on Saturday morning and now after two wins in three are sitting comfortably in mid-table.
Harrogate chief Billy Miller said: “He (Cartman) missed a penalty for me at Liversedge against Pickering in the FA Cup and he didn’t take one again for three years.
“To see him then get on the end (of Morris’ long ball) and finish from such an acute angle was fantastic. It was a phenomenal goal.
“I said to him after ‘how do you feel about penalties’ and he said ‘I’m on the next one’ so it just shows how far he has come.”
He added: “Both teams cancelled each other out.
“Having seen Clitheroe on Friday night against New Mills, we worked that they were going to be a good side and that was clearly evident tonight.
“They have quality up-top and work hard for each other. They don’t give in so we knew it would be a tough ride.
“But, we knew if we could over the first 20-25 minutes, we would have a chance.
“Our goal-scoring record speaks for itself. We missed a penalty, scored a goal and had a couple of other clear-cut chances.
“They did threaten at our end and I thought their left-winger was class.”
Action from Harrogate Railway 1-0 Clitheroe. Photo: Caught Light Photography
Young Harrogate Railway striker Lamin Colley takes on the Clitheroe defender. Photo: Caught Light Photography
Harrogate winger Rob Youhill controls the ball. Photo: Caught Light Photography
Clitheroe gave a Harrogate a real rigorous examination in the opening 25 minutes.
Railway’s defence, which has 19 league goals in just six games, had to deal with a lot of pressure.
Returning goalkeeper Karl Dean had a magnificent game and played on despite taking a couple of knocks.
Dean had to be alert early on when Danny Morton was presented with the ball inside the six yard and shot towards the goal – an effort, the stopper was able to deal with.
Dean then made further saves from David Lynch and Sefton Gonzales before the visitors ran out of steam.
Railway had good patches in the first half without ever properly testing Green.
Both sides looked good on the counter attack and Clitheroe, who had nine shots on target, had some good chances in the opening stages of the second half.
Dean denied Zach Clarke on the near post and then kept Gonzales out for a second time.
Railway’s best line of attack was from hitting the long ball over Clitheroe’s two centre-backs, who were really put under the wringer in the last 20 minutes.
Every-time, as the teams began to tire, the ball was lifted up to Lamin Colley or Cartman, Clitheroe’s were rocking.
Talented forward Colley is getting better and better and he rarely lost the ball when it was at his feet and he fired the warning flare when Green had to tip his goal-bound effort onto the crossbar.
The long ball to Colley or Cartman was working and the pair combined perfectly in the build-up to the penalty.
Cartman’s through pass presented a goal-scoring opportunity for Colley from 12 yards. Colley was all set to shot until he was brought down by Clitheroe captain Steven Mercer.
Mercer surprisingly remained on the pitch and watched on as Cartman’s spot kick was a nice height for Green to bat away after diving to his left.
Undeterred by the disappointment, Railway kept plugging. Substitute Ryan Sharrocks spurned an excellent chance, minutes before the decisive moment.
Morris – a contender for man of the match himself having being a rock at the back – saw an opportunity for Cartman to break away down the left-wing and sent the ball towards the corner flag.
Initially the ball appeared to be heading for a goal kick, but, Cartman kept running and somehow kept the ball in play.
He then skipped past his defender and made his way into the penalty area.
His intelligent football brain then came to the fore as from eight yards and a slightly difficult angle, he curled a superb low shot into far bottom corner – well beyond Green’s reach.
It capped an excellent weekend for the Division One North’s top goal-scorer.
The defeat was harsh on Clitheroe, but Simon Garner’s team paid the price for not taking their chances – which totalled 15.
Clitheroe also didn’t take advantage of 13 corners.
They do have the chance to make up for the league defeat when they return to Station View on Saturday for the FA Cup first qualifying round clash.
Harrogate Railway: Dean, Hunter, Kidd, Morris, Coates, Metcalfe, Youhill, Ibrahimi, Colley, Cartman (captain), Bromley (Sharrocks 58). Subs unused: Coupland, Ashforth, Thirkell, Ndovi.
Clitheroe: Green, Brady, Bamba, Freeland, Mercer (captain), Lynch, Clarke, Wilkins, Gonzales, Morton (Burns 62), Hutchinson. Subs unused: Aspin, Cattermole, Dunkerley, Palffy.
Referee: Ian Johnston
Ref Rating: 8/10
Attendance: 58
Man of the match: Karl Dean (Harrogate Railway)
More Match Photos (taken by Caught Light Photography) can be seen on Harrogate Railway’s Facebook page HERE