AFC Wimbledon 1 Harrogate Town 0: 'One switch-off moment' costs Sulphurites

The Sulphurites more than held their own during Saturday’s League Two trip to opponents who are very much in the hunt for automatic promotion and boast the second best home record in the division.

But they were undone late on when a momentary lapse allowed Osman Foyo to drive down the right wing and cross for Alistair Smith, who was left unmarked at the near post to slot home what proved to be a decisive goal.

The good news for Town is that second-from-bottom Morecambe lost at Grimsby, meaning that Weaver and his men remain nine points clear of the drop zone, and the Harrogate chief said he was far from “despondent” at the final whistle.

“We looked an organised and solid outfit,” he insisted. “I’d have liked to have created a few more opportunities to score, but it was a tight affair.

"Wimbledon are obviously wanting to go up and they came out after half-time and shaded things for a spell, but they certainly didn’t in the first half, where we more than matched them.

“We had one switch-off moment down their right-hand side and they just got in behind us. It was a decent ball into Smith and he finished it very well, but I’m not going to pick spots off the players.

“We’ve come to one of the best set-ups in League Two, where the home faithful really get behind their team. It’s not an easy task, but we showed that there’s very little difference in quality between the sides. We fought the fight for the whole game and could easily have come away with something.

“Even after we conceded, we remained composed and looked to exploit any gaps, and they were hanging on for the last few minutes. I thought that we warranted a point from the game.”

Goalkeeper James Belshaw was Town’s stand-out performer on the day, coming off his line to make a smart save to deny Josh Kelly in the 40th minute after the Wimbledon attacker ran onto Omar Bugiel’s through-ball.

The Town stopper, who pulled off a stunning stop during Harrogate’s midweek win against Wimbledon, then produced another moment of brilliance to tip Riley Harbottle’s header onto his cross-bar at point-blank range.

The visitors best chance of the game arrived just before the interval, Josh March firing straight at Owen Goodman after being presented with a clear sight of goal.

After the break, Belshaw got down well to tip Kelly’s long-range effort around his post, while at the other end, Tom Cursons cleared the bar after meeting Ellis Taylor’s low cross from the left.

But, Smith would decided the contest in the 79th minute when he escaped the attentions of the visiting centre-halves and finished first time from around seven yards out.

Town did ask some questions of the home defence at the death, Bryant Bilongo twice failing to apply a finishing touch at the far post as the Sulphurites delivered some dangerous balls into the home box.

But, although they finished up empty-handed, Harrogate remain 20th in the table with a reasonable amount of breathing space with just five games left to play this term.

“Looking at other results, it wasn’t a totally bad day and it’s been a decent week overall,” Weaver added.

"It’s another game chalked off and we can be positive about the performances this week.

"I said to the lads ‘don’t be too downhearted’, it’s another game where two of the teams below us have lost.

"I’ve had that many months of not feeling comfortable, that it is very difficult to feel anything else until the deal is done. We have to seal the deal, and the sooner the better.

“The motivation is there in the changing room and we could be 95 percent safe next Saturday night if we do our job [at home to Grimsby].”