Harrogate Town "got away" with Curzon Ashton draw says disappointed Simon Weaver

Simon Weaver thought Harrogate Town were 'a shadow' of the team on a four game winning run in their deflating 2-2 draw against Curzon Ashton.
Simon WeaverSimon Weaver
Simon Weaver

Town conceded a penalty in the dying seconds of a game they led for over an hour thanks to Jon-Paul Pittman’s brace.

Niall Cummings’ spot-kick snapped a four-game winning streak, although Town still haven’t tasted defeat eight games into the National League North season.

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In the event, Weaver considered his side fortunate to come away with a point from the game at the CNG Stadium.

“It was a difficult afternoon really,” he said.

“If I’m honest I think we got away with it even though we conceded in the dying seconds.

“I thought Curzon deserved at least a draw.

“They were in the ascendancy for large parts, especially in the second half, and as a team we were pretty leggy and not at our best.

“As a unit we were a shadow of the team that played against Halifax.”

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Weaver, a keen advocate of his team building moves from the back, reserved particular criticism for the way Town went about maintaining possession of the ball.

“We’ve got three really good midfielders and there’s no point in playing the three of them in the middle of the park if you’re not going to pass it,” he commented.

“You should have seen in the training session on Thursday, everyone was passing it.

“We’ve given them the licence to do that but today it turned into a game of attack versus defence.

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“We’re better at ball retention than we’ve shown, it was shocking today.”

The Wetherby Road chief cited fatigue as a key factor in the listless nature of the home side’s display, particularly in the second half.

“In the second half, the equaliser was coming,” Weaver said.

“There were heavy legs and tired minds, a mistake led to the penalty and they got their equaliser.

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“The mistake isn’t the biggest worry, it was the legginess and I thought we were quite quiet in the second half.

“We can’t become lethargic when we’re in a winning position, maybe we’ve been guilty of that.

“We need to improve that mentality if we’re going to sustain our challenge.”

On the main incident in the game, the penalty conceded by Tom Platt, Weaver had no real complaints.

“My first instinct was just that he got the ball,” he said.

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“A few people have said that actually, the player nudged it away first.

“Today was pretty relentless in the last half an hour from Curzon, mistakes do happen when it’s relentless.

“We go again, we know that we can perform well. We dust ourselves down, learn a bit more about ourselves and try and be a bit tougher.”