PICKERING Town manager Paul Marshall believes that "stopping" Athersley Recreation will be the problem when the sides meet at Mill Lane in the Northern Counties East League premier tomorrow.

Athersley have goalscoring potential in their ranks, especially after the resigning of Kai Hancock – but so have the Pikes, as they demonstrated on Tuesday night at home to Harrogate Railway Athletic.

Before the disappointment of having last week's game at Rainworth Miners Welfare postponed last Saturday, Pickering had scored 29 in seven games, and the fourth-placed Pikes picked up where they left off midweek, thrashing Marshall’s former club 9-1.

Marshall said before the Rail game: “We were a bit disappointed to have the break because we’d won six on the bounce and you don’t want the interruption.

“It’ll be nice to see a few old faces, but it’s not about that – it’s about winning the game.”

And that they did thanks to a Ryan Blott hat-trick, braces from Matty Turnbull and Billy Logan alongside singles from Ged Dalton and Eddy Birch.

New forward Harry Clapham came on for the final 15 minutes after being signed on Monday. The youngster has made an impression in the York & District FA Under-19s League, notably netting five for Wigginton Grasshoppers against table-toppers Wilberfoss Mavericks last month.

Ahead of tomorrow’s game, Marshall said: “Like with a lot of teams in this league, stopping Athersley is the problem. They’ve just got Kai Hancock back from Ossett Town – he’s quick and he scores goals.

“Clapham scores goals at the under-19 level so hopefully he’ll be a good impact player. He’s a lively prospect.”

Harrogate Railway Athletic have the chance to bounce back tomorrow when they play host to seventh-placed Hemsworth Miners Welfare.