On Tuesday the 5th September, the football friendly contingent of the Pixel team headed up to Harrogate after work to see our new client Harrogate Town Associated Football Club (HTAFC) take on Salford in the National League North.
But before the football got underway, the evening kicked off with a sit down dinner of pork stroganoff followed by banoffee pie up in the club's hospitality suite; exactly what we needed after a hard day at the office. Thankfully the meal also turned out to be something suitably warming for the football match ahead because in true British fashion, the weather was definitely not on our side.
Post dinner was a Q& A with HTAFC manager Simon Weaver. This gave fans the opportunity to grill the manager about the team’s start to the season and how going full time has given them a new lease of life, all before heading to the stands for the match itself. Although not before we indulged in a little sweepstake…
We took the squad line up for both teams and numbered the rows 1 to 11, then we each chose a number at random, allocating us each two players, a Harrogate Town player and a Salford player. To win the sweepstake all you needed was for one of your two players to score the first goal. Who would be the victor?
Well, the match proved to be a lively game with Phenix, wearing shirt number 9, scoring for Salford in the first 5 minutes of the match. Hilarity then followed as our Content and Social Media Executive Olly Walker made a premature celebration for winning the sweepstake after mistaking the shirt number for his row number. Turns out the winnings actually belonged to our Senior Developer Christ Dent. Better luck next time Oliver!
So it wasn’t the start to the match Harrogate Town (or Olly) were hoping for, but after heading in for a quick coffee and a chat at half time, spirits in the home camp remained high.
That faith was rewarded in the 47
th minute with Harrogate Town’s Joe Leesley scoring from a penalty but alas, the euphoria for Harrogate Town was short lived as Salford responded with a second goal in the 77
th minute, eventually ending the match 2:1 to Salford.
Despite not getting the result they wanted, the Harrogate Town side did walk away with their heads held high after their midfielder Jack Emmett was awarded Man of the Match by our very own Creative Director Andy Ackroyd, who had the privilege of handing over Jack’s well-earned champagne.
Andy said “
Jack earned Man of the Match after standing out amongst the rest of the team by refusing to give up the battle to beat Salford in a game that unfortunately didn’t go Harrogate Town’s way in the end. He made some fast breaks, he was tenacious in midfield and kept up a solid performance until the final whistle”.
The match attendance was 1137 and it had to be said, we had a great evening and we wish Harrogate Town AFC plenty of success as their season continues!