THE GAME
New management team, new players, big crowd, bright sunshine and yet the opening day of the 2025/26 season didn’t bring the start that everyone was craving, and it was Harrogate Town taking all three points at The Mem courtesy of a 63rd minute Stephen Duke-McKenna goal.
And yet it all began so well, with Rovers on top for the opening 25/30 minutes and threatening to batter Harrogate into submission. In spite of all of their possession, though, the elusive opening goal never materialised.
Ruel Sotiriou volleyed wide, Clinton Mola blazed a shot high over the bar, two or three efforts were blocked, James Belshaw made an outstanding save from Promise Omochere and Taylor Moore’s header hit the crossbar.
It was, we all thought, only a matter of time before we scored…but it never happened. Harrogate came into the game more in the final 15 minutes and almost took the lead when Mason Bennett glanced a header wide of the target.
The second half was, to be brutally honest, a total let down as Harrogate, a side that looked as though it was happy to take the point they started with, began to think they could take all three against a lacklustre Rovers.
It came as little surprise, therefore, that they took the lead when Duke-McKenna, with his side’s first on target effort, lifted the ball over Luke Southwood and into the net after being played in by Bryn Morris.
Five minutes later Darrell Clarke made four substitutions and one of them the returning Ellis Harrison, almost equalised. Played in by a delightful through ball by Isaac Hutchinson he saw his effort come back into
play off the post. Shortly afterwards Ollie Dewsbury was denied his first league goal for the club by a last ditch challenge by Warren Burnell.
There were no more chances and a strangely subdued second half performance showed just what a task faces Darrell Clarke over the coming weeks and months.
WHAT THEY SAID
What They Said
‘You’ve always got to take your chances, but I’m learning a hell of a lot in a five-week period with these boys and they know where I stand and they need to quickly pick up the messages that I’m actually giving them because there’s certain things I’ve seen out there that I wasn’t happy about and we’ve got to improve.
‘We can’t afford lulls, especially when we’re at home, when we want to be on the front foot, that 30 minute period has to be a 90 minutes for us, at least 60-70 minute period if that and I didn’t see enough of that after that 30 minutes, so we have to learn, we have to learn quickly.
‘My coaches and certainly have to learn it quickly about the group. A hard week, ready to go again next Saturday.’ Rovers Head Coach Darrell Clarke
‘We absolutely battered them for the first 30 minutes, didn’t we? When you’re in that position, you need to capitalise, and that can be from anyone; it can be from me popping up with a goal. Clint had a chance; it’s not just on the attackers and the strikers.
‘It’s very special, obviously, to be back at The Mem. Firstly, seeing my name and things like that is an amazing feeling. I remember when I was a young kid in the stands seeing someone else’s name so when it’s happening to you, it’s a bit surreal.
‘It’s a massive honour to be captain. It’s an absolute privilege and, like I said, all I ever do is give 100% on and off the football pitch and represent this great Club as best as I can.’ Rovers skipper Alfie Kilgour.
‘I thought it was a deserved win today. We knew it would be a difficult game, but the lads got the rewards for putting in a great team performance; to a man they worked their socks off, the effort was incredible today.
‘Today you could see that they all wanted it so much. And it’s great to see the new lads show such a great attitude right from the off.
‘I thought we stuck to the plan really well with how they deployed three at the back and then a box midfield and our wide men struck to the task really well. Harrogate Manager Simon Weaver
