Harrogate Town were held to a 1-1 draw away at Bury in the FA Cup fourth qualifying round on Saturday. The National League high-flyers will now host a replay after a match that meant a great deal to the reborn home side, who welcomed over 5,000 fans to Gigg Lane for the first time since their 2023 reformation. This result, following their 1-1 draw at Bury on Saturday 17 October, maintains the team's strong league form of four wins and a draw from their last five matches.
Mike Hamilton, a 77-year-old Bury supporter, captured the mood. "Today we've got over 5,000 here," he said. "We get three-and-a-half normally, less for an FA Cup game, but it's a big one.
For Harrogate, the result extends their unbeaten run to five matches across all competitions, a sequence that includes four wins. Simon Weaver's side remain second in the National League, with 28 points from 13 games, a record of nine wins, one draw and three losses. They have scored 29 goals this season while conceding 17, giving them a goal difference of plus twelve. The team is seven points behind leaders Boreham Wood in the title race. Their recent form is built on a string of positive results, including a 1-0 win at Woking on Saturday 10 October, a 3-0 home victory over AFC Hornchurch on Saturday 3 October, a 1-0 win at Hartlepool on Tuesday 29 September, and a 4-1 home win against Eastleigh on Saturday 26 September.
Eighteen-year-old fan Katie Maken summed up the day's significance for Bury, a club expelled from the EFL in 2019. "This means everything to the club - the fans coming back who we've not seen for years," she said. The unified club only returned to its historic Gigg Lane home last year following a merger vote.
The draw means Harrogate Town must handle a replay to progress in the competition, adding another game to a busy period. Their next match is that key league encounter with 13th-placed Sutton United at the EnviroVent Stadium on Saturday 24 October.
The original report is at bbc.com
