Town look for a lucky break and a path out of the bottom three away at rivals Hyde
HARROGATE Town assistant Tom Wade is confident with a little bit more luck Harrogate Town's season will turn on its head despite the club still deep in relegation trouble.
Two successive away defeats at Stafford Rangers (1-0) on Saturday and Farsley Celtic (2-1) on Tuesday respectively undid the good work of their 3-1 victory over Hinckley two weeks ago.
However former Blyth and Gateshead boss Wade knows a positive result at fellow strugglers Hyde tomorrow (3pm) could see them move out of the bottom three if other results go their way.
The psychological effect on the players if that happens could kick start their season according to Simon Weaver’s number two.
“We just need that bit of luck, the ball to go in off a backside, anything to get us going,” he said.
“If we get out of the bottom three it will relieve a bit of pressure on the boys. I think then they’ll play with a lot more confidence and I’m sure our situation will turn round.
“It’s an important game against Hyde, they’re just above us but they’re still a good side, there’s no bad sides in the division this season, it’s a really competitive league.
“Vauxhall have drawn two on the bounce, Blyth Spartans were up there and now they’re down again so you can’t take anything for granted.”
Despite the two defeats this week Wade is sure Weaver’s new look squad will show its quality to the supporters in the coming weeks.
“We’ve got a squad of 20 quality players now, it’s going to take a bit of time for them to gel but when they do I’m sure the results will turn round,” continued Wade.
“The players we’ve got at the club now are good enough to be fighting for the play-offs let alone relegation. There’s great competition and anyone of those players is good enough to play at this level.
“We just need the supporters on our side now. Our home form is going to be crucial if we’re going to stay up, we’ll have had three away games on the trot after Hyde, if we win that that’ll be three points from three tough away games.
“But we need to make sure we’re strong at home. The supporters have a big role too, the support we got in the Hinckley game helped us out.
“We need them to stick with us, they can help us through it.”
On Saturday a solitary second half Tom Thorley goal was enough to condemn Town to their first defeat in 2010.
Weaver’s side continued where they left off against Hinckley with a strong first half display but crucially missed a host of good chances to take the lead.
Peter Knox, Jason Bradley, Craig James, Adam Nowakowski and Simon Sturdy all wasted opportunities as Town smelled blood.
The home side however came out fighting after the break. They had a Craig McAughtrie header ruled out for a foul on Jon Maloney but eventually took the lead when Thorley went on a mazy run and fired past Ratchford 15 minutes from time.
Town went for broke in the closing minutes of the match but couldn’t find the equaliser.
On Tuesday Farsley hit the traps running in their rearranged Boxing Day Yorkshire derby at Throstle Nest, taking the lead on 39 minutes through former Town man Dave Syers.
After the break Town came out fighting and levelled proceedings when Simon Sturdy found the back of the net following a Ben Muirhead free-kick.
But with both sides chasing the winner it was home side Farsley who collected all three points when Josh Radcliffe tapped home on 76 minutes.
“They were two hard away games,” added Wade.
“If you look at the performances we played well in the first half against Stafford but just couldn’t take our chances.
“Against Farsley they battered us in the first half but we came back into it in the second when we equalised. We’re playing well for one half at the moment but we need to do that for the full 90.”
Meanwhile Wade has given his backing to club captain Dave McTiernan who has missed the last couple of matches after being dropped.
He is now fighting hard to reclaim his starting place.
“It’s one of those situations every play finds themselves in from time to time,” added Wade.
“He’s club captain but the gaffer decided to change things around a bit. But he’s still at the club, he’s training hard and he’s working hard to get back in the team.
“He’s not moaned about it, he’s just got his head down. It could be a good thing, if you look at Simon Sturdy he went to Matlock, he’s come back in and in the last few games he’s been one of our best players.”
Blue Square North
PPts
Fleetwood Town 26 54
Southport 24 51
Hinckley Utd 24 44
Eastwood Town 25 44
Droylsden 21 39
Alfreton Town 24 37
Stalybridge 19 35
Corby 22 35
AFC Telford 24 32
Stafford Rangers 26 30
Ilkeston Town 21 29
Northwich 21 28
Workington 21 28
Blyth Spartans 22 27
Farsley Celtic 23 25
Gloucester 24 24
Redditch 25 24
Solihull Moors 24 23
Hyde 21 19
Gainsborough 23 18
Harrogate Town 23 16
Vauxhall Motors 23 15
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Weather for Harrogate
Tuesday 22 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
