Noted French apothecarist Nostradamus was something of a visionary. He famously predicted the assassination of JFK, the rise of Hitler, and the late career revival of Rick Astley. He was also a keen football fan. One of his earlier works was 1535s 'A Bumper Booke of Footebal', written in conjunction with Old Mother Shipton. Surprisingly this tome revealed a keen interest in junior football, especially that played over the border in North Yorkshire, possibly due to the influence of Knaresborough local Shipton. A raft of predictions for 2024 are contained within and one of the quatrains seems to reference a match between Bedale and Menston Rangers, containing the lines:

The team in light blue will travel far far away.
In early January of this year, they will play.
And make it 13 wins on the bounce,
Against 11 from Bedale, who they will trounce

And so the soothsayer's words came to pass. A long journey north was followed by a convincing win for Rangers against a defensive Bedale outfit. As in the first meeting of these teams, Menston's first goal took a long while coming but it was worth the wait, Boughan opening his account for the season with a superb strike from distance after good work from an excellent Fleming, who constantly probed down the right-hand side of the pitch. Plenty of half chances came but a battling home team, with the keeper once again outstanding, kept the margin to one at halftime.
In the second half, Menston dominated. At the back, man of the match Hutchinson was immense, with Barker also a towering figure. Lambertino made it 2 with a well-worked goal and an individual effort from Ainsworth with 20 to go meant that Rangers could relax and play some delightful football in the closing stages of the match as the home team understandably began to tire. No more goals were added to the tally but yet another clean sheet means Menston have not conceded in 5 matches and have gone 7 games since conceding in open play.
With Nostradamus on our side, it looks set fair to be a bright year for Menston Rangers.