ROY MASON’S 500th match as Steeton manager proved to be a fairytale as the Chevrons came from behind to beat Harrogate Railway 2-1 to progress into the quarter-finals of the West Riding County Cup for the first time in their history.

Andy Briggs’ strike immediately cancelled out Joe Crosby’s opener in an end-to-end first half, before Jahro Parchment’s sublime finish secured the win for Steeton, who finished the match with 10 men after Briggs was controversially sent off with half an hour left to play.

The teams provided Mason with a guard of honour before kick-off, but it was Railway who dominated at first, as they looked to spoil the party early on.

Crosby, who scored all four of their goals at the weekend, weaved through the Steeton defence before seeing his shot cannon off the crossbar in the third minute.

The hosts were firmly on top, seeing a cross blocked and a free header flash wide before taking a deserved lead with 20 minutes gone.

After driving down the wing, Crosby saw his shot come back off a defender, with the prolific forward making no mistake to fire the rebound past Oli Brackenbury from close range.

But Railway were ahead for just 60 seconds, with Steeton responding immediately.

From the restart, Briggs found space to latch on to Tom Robinson’s defence-splitting pass before finding the bottom corner from the edge of the box to level the scores.

The Chevrons were almost caught out when the hosts hit the bar for the second time soon after, while neither Kayle Price nor Parchment could capitalise after beating the offside trap, as the score remained one apiece at the interval.

Steeton started the second half with the same intensity as they had finished the first, taking the lead in the 49th minute with a goal worthy of the occasion.

Josh McKiernon’s lofted pass found Parchment, who drove down the right wing before rounding Railway shot-stopper Joe Wilton and slotting into the bottom corner from a tight angle.

Things came to a head when shortly after a coming together, Briggs caught Fatlum Ibrahim with a late tackle, though the Steeton striker was perhaps unlucky to have been given his marching orders.

Tensions began to boil over, with players from both sides soon showing their frustrations with feisty challenges across the pitch.

Railway drew a string of fantastic saves from Brackenbury as they looked to make their man advantage count, but left themselves open to the counter, with Price and Parchment both coming close to extending the Chevrons’ lead.

A nervous last 10 minutes followed for Steeton as Railway pushed everybody forward, but their defence stood firm to set up a quarter-final tie at Brighouse Town in the new year.

Mason was delighted with his side’s performance, as the Chevrons made it three wins in a row ahead of the visit of high-fliers Bury AFC to Marley on Monday.

After the game, he said: “Today has been a really proud day for me and the players have just made me even prouder.

“The grit and determination they showed for the last half an hour playing with 10 men, it was magnificent tonight.

“It was everything we want from a Steeton side, and I thought we thoroughly deserved the victory.”