Simon Weaver said he was left with “mixed emotions” after a late goal from former Premier League striker Charlie Austin denied his Harrogate Town side a much-needed victory on the road at Swindon.
Anthony O’Connor’s superb header in the 52nd minute appeared to put the Sulphurites on track for a well-earned three points and their first victory in five games.However, Austin, a former QPR forward, scored an equaliser five minutes before the ordinary 90 ended, preventing Town from providing the ideal response to their midweek humiliation at the hands of Newport County.
In his 15 years as the team’s manager, Weaver characterised the 4-1 loss as one of the worst performances by his players. Despite his frustration at not being able to hold on for the victory, he was happy to at least receive a good response.
The leader of the Sulphurites pondered, “I’m feeling conflicted.” “After the mess from the other night, I would have taken a point, but we looked like a really good team again today, which makes the performance on Tuesday even more unbelievable.”
“But I have to judge it based on today, and we put up another strong away performance, which is why we rank third in the away form table.
“Today was much better; we first appeared to be a professional football team and shown every quality required to succeed at this level.
“We appeared more unified the entire time, and many more duels were won. Open areas for individuals to play in were absent. We held strong until the eighty-fifth minute.
“We should have put them to bed before they scored in the 85th minute, and I regret that. Although it was a bit of a sucker punch, we would have cherished a point going into the game overall.
With only a few good opportunities created by either team, the first half of Saturday’s match was quite boring. Neither side was able to put the other’s custodian to the test.
The first meaningful opportunity came when Abraham Odoh crossed for Matty Daly after doing well down the Harrogate left, but Town’s number ten finished completely incorrectly.
Aaron Drinan, on the other side, hit a header just wide of the post and then curled a well-placed effort from the edge of the box just beyond.
Odoh then spurned a great opportunity to break the deadlock, Daly’s cross from the left seemingly hitting him and bouncing wide when he really ought to have done much better.
The Sulphurites started the second period brightly and got their noses in front when Stephen Dooley won a free-kick wide on the right. George Thomson’s curling delivery was extremely inviting and centre-half O’Connor made the most of it, throwing himself at the ball and directing his header inside the far post.
The impressive O’Connor then showed his quality inside his own box, making a last-ditch block to prevent Paul Glatzel from levelling matters with James Belshaw beaten.
However, the period of the game which followed saw Town play some incisive attacking football and open up their hosts on a number of occasions without managing to find the second goal which surely would have settled the contest.
Matty Daly was denied what would have been a tap-in when Swindon goalkeeper Jack Bycroft stuck out a leg to kick away Thomson’s low cross from the right, Thomson fired over the cross-bar after Muldoon had got in behind down the left and Joe Mattock glanced the wrong side of the upright.
Harrogate then appeared to tire, and with fresh legs not arriving until Swindon had already seized the ascendancy, much of the last 25 minutes was played in the away half.
With the visitors struggling to escape their own territory, the Robins began to turn the screw, and an equaliser felt like it might be coming.
It eventually arrived in the 85th minute, with Weaver left to rue the fact that his team weren’t out of sight by that point.
“When we got to 1-0, we were causing them all kinds of trouble and their heads had gone,” he said. “You can see, without being disrespectful, facts are facts at the end of the day, why they [Swindon] have conceded over 60 goals.
“Once we got one, you could see a lot of nerves and apprehension at the back, and we were carving them open. But, that is where you need the quality to finish teams off, and that is where we fell short on the day.
“We needed to find that killer pass, to believe, have a shot. We checked back so often and took the safe option.
“The players that have stood out for us over the years, like Jack Diamond, they go for the throats, don’t they, and have shots. They don’t fear recrimination, and that’s the culture that we want here. We don’t have a go at players for having a go.
“I will continue to demand more from them; it was just a bit steady in front of goal.”
As a result of Saturday’s outcome, Harrogate falls one spot to 13th in the League Two rankings, five points outside the final play-off slot in the division.
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