Patience was the name of the game for Harrogate Railway at Athersley Recreation

The promotion-chasing Starbeck club dominated the ball but were frustrated for long periods by their struggling hosts, who held a deep line and kept numbers behind the ball.

That was until the 82nd-minute when substitute Kieran Greenway struck to spark a late mini goal-rush, the Rail eventually emerging victorious by a 3-0 scoreline.

"I said to the lads that we are going to get these kind of games when we’re playing against teams who are down near the bottom of the league and are scrapping for points to survive,”

"Sometimes we are going to have to contend with playing a side who keep 10 behind the ball, but it’s important that we remain patient and stick to our game-plan.

"I reminded them at half-time that we have to remember our principles, stay patient and keep moving the ball from side to side. I felt that if we did that, chances would eventually come.

"We missed a couple of opportunities in the first half. Had we taken them it would have forced them to come out and play and opened the game up.

"We just had to keep probing and then once we got that initial breakthrough, the floodgates kind of opened.”

Greenway’s opener was added to four minutes later by fellow substitute Jacob Robertson, before Greenway notched again in stoppage-time to round things off.

"I always tell the lads that if you’re not in the team then it’s very important that when you get a chance to come on, you make sure that you affect the game,” O’Connell added.

"The really good thing from Saturday is that two of the lads who came off the bench both managed to score goals.

“Kieran has loads of quality. He offers a different option to the three midfield players who started the game, more of an attacking threat, a different dynamic.

"Jacon is the same really. He came on for Oli Norman out wide and offered something a bit different, which helped us get the result.

"I don’t believe that a team can ever win anything with 11 good players, you need 15, 16, 17, 18 quality players in a squad if you are to be successful and we’ve got that in our squad at this moment in time.”

Saturday’s result keeps Railway third in the table, two points behind second-placed Rossington Main, but with three games in hand.

Next up is a trip to fellow play-off contenders Wakefield AFC this Saturday, 3pm kick-off.