PICKERING Town came out on top in last night's North Yorkshire derby with Harrogate Railway.

The Pikes beat seventh-placed Harrogate Railway 1-0 in the Northern Counties East League premier division at the Recreation Ground.

Mark Wood turned in an Alex Wilgrass pass to score the only goal in the first half of what proved to be a battling encounter, with the three points lifting the Pikes further away from the drop zone.

Railway boss Paul Marshall said: "It was lively but all the action was 18 yards to 18 yards. They had two shots and we had about five but neither 'keeper had to make a save. They defended very well and got a goal from a corner which was slack on our behalf."

Railway will face NCEL title favourites Bridlington in the two-legged final of the President's Cup after the latter beat Goole 2-0 in last night's semi-final. The first leg is likely to be scheduled for a week tomorrow at Bridlington, with the return leg being held at Station View the following Monday.

Harrogate Town jumped up to sixth in the UniBond League premier division after chalking up their fifth consecutive win last night.

John Reed's in-form men beat Altrincham 3-0 at Wetherby Road despite not playing particularly well.

Colin Hunter opened the scoring after 37 minutes, taking advantage of Robins defender Gary Scott's poor headed back-pass, and Marc Smith doubled the lead early in the second half, with substitute Scott Jackson rounding off the win with an 89th-minute strike.

Simon Sturdy, the former Pickering player, had an outstanding game for Town at the back.

Updated: 11:41 Wednesday, March 19, 2003