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04
May
Knaresborough Town manager says club has ‘best opportunity in years’ to win cup final
Though their league season is finished, Knaresborough Town Men’s have one last push ahead of them.
The Manse Lane side recently advanced through to the final of the JCP Construction League Cup on penalties, after a gruelling goalless draw against Penistone Church.
This year did not come without its challenges, though.
After a poor start to the season that saw them near the bottom of the table, Boro took an upturn in form, managing to finish 12th in the league.
Season roundup
The Stray Ferret spoke to Simon Parkes, Knaresborough Town Men’s first team manager, who told us about his thoughts on the season:
It’s been a bit of a whirlwind season. We went through a bit of a transition process in the summer after losing a lot of players. We recorded our highest ever league finish last year and unfortunately that attracted a lot of teams in higher divisions.
It was frustrating being just above the relegation zone for so long at the start of the year, so we decided to bring in five or six new players and in November we started to bring back results.
Between January and March Boro hit some fine form, winning 10 of their 14 games in all competitions.
Even with a bad start they finished their season having conceded 59 goals, the sixth best out of all 20 teams in the division.
Parkes told me what he thought the catalyst of Knaresborough’s improved form was:
I think our early form was quite reflective of the fact we couldn’t select the same side each week. Once we could do that, we started playing much better.
There was a real fundamental change to our back five; we made new signings and became much harder to beat. Players like Cole Wildin and Will Lenehan both came in and made a massive difference.
And it allowed me to play players in the right positions. We were playing James Beaston out of position for a good few months, but as soon as we were able to move him back into defensive midfield, we looked so much more solid at the back.
Despite a bad start, Knaresborough managed to take a lot of points away from the top 5, especially in the second half of the season.
From the 30 available points against the top five, Town gained 13 points. 11 of those points came in the second half of the season, from 15 points available.
Though the Manse Lane side picked up some impressive wins such as 8-1 against Eccleshill and 4-0 against Tadcaster Albion, Parkes told me that his favourite performance was the club’s 0-0 draw against the league winners, Silsden AFC, at home.
So how do Boro ensure that they don’t start next season in similar fashion to this year? Parkes said:
Ensuring that I keep the core lads. I don’t want to change the squad too much, but I understand the league is getting more and more competitive, so I’ll have to bring a few new faces in.
Obviously, I can’t disclose anything yet, but we’ve had a really positive recruitment so far.
Parkes also told us about his aims for next season:
I’d be shooting myself in the foot if I said we weren’t going for playoffs next year.
Two of the highest spenders in the league, Silsden and Hallam, have left the league which is always a bonus.
We want to create a culture at the club where it isn’t all about the money for our players.
Cup Final
Knaresborough will face Beverley Town in the League Cup final.
The Humberside club have been one of the league’s top performers this season, rocketing into fourth place after being promoted from Division One of the Northern Counties East League last year.
They narrowly missed out on a double promotion, losing 4-3 on penalties against Hallam in the play-off final after a 2-2 draw.
Parkes told us how Boro can prepare for such strong opponents:
Beverley are one of the best footballing teams in the league. We have to respect our opponents, but we also know they’re beatable.
This season has shown that anyone can beat anyone in our league, and a cup final is all about who turns up on the day.
Boro and Beverley both have one win a piece this season, with both sides winning 2-1 at their respective grounds.
Knaresborough do have a slight advantage, though – experience.
The Manse Lane side were defeated 4-0 by Pontefract Collieries in the County Cup final last year.
Parkes told us how they can ensure they don’t make the same mistakes as last time:
There was a real strong reality on the day that they were much better than us. They’re in the league above.
We know our qualities; we just have to make sure we give a good account of ourselves on the day. We know that we’ve become very hard to beat in the last few months too.
In my opinion, this is our best opportunity to win some silverware in years.
Knaresborough Town’s League Cup final will kick off at Scunthorpe United’s Attis Arena at 7.45pm on Tuesday (May 6).
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