FORMER York City midfielder Paddy McLaughlin made a winning start to a spell at Harrogate Town.

The 24-year-old midfielder, pictured below, was signed on loan from Conference Premier outfit Grimsby Town in time to get his Conference North debut in the heart of Town’s midfield against visitors Gloucester City.

And thanks to a brace of second-half goals from Jordan Thewlis, Harrogate triumphed 2-1, though they had to fend off nervy pressure after Gloucester snatched a late reply at Wetherby Road.

Harrogate Railway Athletic drew no comfort from their Evo-Stik League first division north excursion to Ossett Town. The Rail lost 3-1, managing their reply from Jason Mycoe only after Ossett had struck three times.

Away-day duty in the same division yielded a point for Scarborough Athletic after they shared a goal-less draw at Bamber Bridge.

Level pegging was the preserve too of Pickering Town, whose Joel Ramm struck in the 70th minute to ensure parity at 1-1 at Maltby Main in the premier division of the Northern Counties East League.

In the NCEL first division, Selby Town’s bid for a share-all at Louth Town was shattered with a last-minute goal from the hosts’ Jamie Coulson. Selby had levelled just after the hour through Jack Binns.

Knaresborough Town, however, stormed to a maximum haul at Hemsworth Miners Welfare, where they scored three times without reply through Colin Heathy (2) and Russell Walker.