Knaresborough Town to play Harrogate Railway in pre-season clash

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Knaresborough Town will make the short trip up the A59 to Starbeck tomorrow (July 18), to face Harrogate Railway in a pre-season friendly.

This will be the first time the clubs have faced each other since July last year, in a previous friendly match in which Boro won 1-0.

The visitors will go into the match as favourites, having spent around six years in the league above Railway.

Knaresborough had a tough start to last season, hovering above the relegation zone, but a rally after Christmas saw them finish their NCEL Premier Division season in 12th place. They also made it to the League Cup final.

Spectators making the journey to Harrogate will hope that Boro’s new signing, Sam Leverett will feature.

The midfielder previously spent time at Leeds United’s academy, before signing a professional contract with Championship giants Swansea City.

He captained their under-23s side for two seasons until consecutive moves to Farsley Celtic and Bridlington Town before joining the Manse Lane side.

Harrogate Railway will be looking to cause a derby-day upset, though.

Under a new chairman in Rob Northfield, the club aims to progress through the leagues.

In a recent interview with the Stray Ferret, he said that Railway winning NCEL Division One “does need to happen”. They were relegated from the NCEL Premier Division in 2018/19.

And Rob Youhill's men have already laid a claim to that with several ambitious signings.

Most notable for tomorrow’s fixture will be Dom Creamer and former Knaresborough Town captain Ben Parkes, both of whom the Harrogate side poached from their neighbours in the summer window.

The match will kick off at 7.30pm tomorrow at the Dagger Diving Stadium on Station View.