Harrogate Town: Simon Weaver left ‘fuming’ after home loss to Hartlepool United

Trailing 2-1 after Luke Armstrong’s tidy 21st-minute opener had been cancelled out by excellent finishes from Luke Molyneux and David Ferguson, the Sulphurites fashioned three very good opportunities to equalise during the closing stages.

Jack Diamond saw a powerful strike from a tight angle well kept out by Pools goalkeeper Ben Killip, but it was substitute Calum Kavanagh who was presented with not one, but two close-range chances to hit the back of the net.

With 75 minutes gone, the Middlesbrough loanee met Lewis Page’s inviting low centre from the left inside the six-yard-box, only to clear the cross-bar when it looked easier to score.
Then, on 83 minutes, 18-year-old Kavanagh missed the target with a far-post header after Simon Power did well to pick him out from close to the byline.

As a result, Town boss Simon Weaver was understandably left wondering how things might have played out had one of those golden opportunities gone in.

“Simon came on and put one on a plate for Calum at the far post, but the chance wasn’t taken,” said Harrogate’s manager.

“That’s the difference between development football where its ‘oh, unlucky’ and actually being told the truth and ‘it’s a miss’. That levels it and, if that’s scored, we maybe push for a winner from there with the home support.

“He will be thinking that he has got to score them. Whether you’re 18 or double that age like Leon Legge, you are judged on what you do, like I am with the result.

“As a centre-forward, you are judged on goals and he’s got a lot of self-belief, so he will know that he should have scored.”

Town remain 14th in the standings after the defeat, a result which means they have now won just one of their last seven.

“It will take me until next week to get over this,” Weaver added.

“It never gets any easier, even after 13 years, especially after that level of performance. It was shocking.

“It felt like an end-of-season game, we just fizzled out and I’m fuming about that.”

Harrogate Town: Oxley, Burrell, Smith, Richards (Power 76),Fallowfield (Beck 90), Thomson, Pattison, Page, Diamond, Muldoon (Kavanagh 65), Armstrong. Unused substitutes: Cracknell, Sheron, Austerfield.

Hartlepool United: Killip, Sterry, Liddle, Odusina, Ferguson, Shelton, Featherstone, Crawford, Molyneux (Hull 90), Bogle (Carver 86), Grey (White 76). Unused substitutes: Holohan, Smith, Fletcher, Bilokapic.

Referee: Carl Boyeson (E Yorkshire).