Harrogate Railway 1, Pickering Town 1: THE Pikes collected their first league point of the season on Saturday when they visited Harrogate Railway in their first game, overall a fair result from Saturday's North Yorkshire local derby.

The Pikes' first chance came after ten minutes, when skipper Dean MacAuley took a left wing free kick which found Michael McNaughton, who flicked the ball to Steve Baxter. His effort was saved at the second attempt by the Railway keeper, Lee Ashforth. Railway then had a good five minute spell.

After 15 minutes Danny Brunton combined well with Steve Roberts who cut in and shot with his right foot from 20 yards, but Ashforth saved superbly tipping the ball for a corner. This was taken by Roberts from the right wing and found Rob Eeles, who headed the ball over the crossbar under pressure. Two minutes later Danny Gray linked up well with Baxter who set up Matthew Morton whose shot went narrowly wide of the goal.

Gray linked up well with Baxter after 23 minutes. Baxter did really well beating two men but Ashforth saved his shot. A minute later Roberts passed to Gray who was brought down by Ashforth and the well-placed referee Gary Wilson (Selby) awarded the Pikes a penalty.

The Pikes took the lead after 25 minutes when Dean MacAuley stepped forward to score with his second successive penalty. Two minutes later a MacAuley free kick into a crowded penalty area found Matthew Morton who was clearly pushed in the back by Henderson, but the referee not well placed this time and didn't see the incident.

The remainder of the first half saw Railway attacking, looking to get back into the game.

The second half started as the first half had finished; within three minutes of the restart, Gray and Scott Bairstow had efforts blocked by McNaughton. Lee Ryan had a shot deflected for a corner which came to nothing. After 50 minutes, Silburn made a great save to stop Scott Ryan from scoring from 35 yards.

On the hour, Morton sent Roberts away for the Pikes, he cut in and shot from 20 yards just wide. Three minutes later, Brunton and Roberts combined well to set up Ricky Greening whose effort was superbly saved by Ashforth.

Railway equalised after 66 minutes. A free kick taken by Shuttleworth found an unmarked Damian Henderson who shot from 16 yards with his right foot into the Pikes goal.

The last ten minutes saw both sides looking for a winner, but all in all a point for each team was a fair result and Michael McNaughton was the Pikes' Man of the Match. The Pikes visit Maltby Main tonight (Wednesday), kick-off 7.45pm, in the league. On Saturday, the Pikes are at home to Farsley Celtic in the first qualifying round of the FA Cup, kick-off 3pm. If the game ends in a draw, the replay at Farlsey will be on Tuesday, September 13, kick off 7.45pm.

Last Saturday, Farsley Celtic were at home to Leek Town and they won 3-2 to move up into tenth position in the Unibond League Premier Division. Leek are fourth from bottom, Farsley play in the same division as Whitby Town and last year they won the league. However, on appeal with the FA, Workington were awarded it, so, all-in-all, it will be a tough game for the Pikes but with the crowd behind them an upset could be on the cards. A large crowd is hoped for and the Pikes are certainly worth watching at the moment as their new-look side are settling down well and playing some fine, open, attacking football. Bad news for the Pikes is that skipper Dean MacAuley will miss both this week's games as he is suspended for seven days for picking up five cautions towards the end of last season.

Last week, Pickering Town fans will have seen a picture of Matthew Morton with an Ashington player and not as stated by the Gazette & Herald. We apologise for this error.

Updated: 15:41 Wednesday, September 07, 2005