Anthony O'Connor 'solid as a rock' on Harrogate Town debut

Anthony O'Connor made his Harrogate Town debut during Saturday's 1-1 draw with Stevenage. Pictures: Matt Kirkham

Simon Weaver felt that new signing Anthony O’Connor made an immediate impact on his Harrogate Town debut.

The 30-year-old centre-half joined the League Two Sulphurites from League One Morecambe last week and was thrown in from the start for Saturday’s clash with high-flying Stevenage.

Town produced an abject defensive performance during a 3-1 home loss to Colchester in their previous outing, prompting Weaver to move in the January transfer window.

And the arrival of the experienced Irishman had the desired effect, with Harrogate looking far more solid at the back than they have done in recent weeks.

Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver was much happier with what he saw from his back-line than he has been in previous weeks.

"Anthony couldn’t have had it much harder on debut in terms of the opposition, their physicality – although he does like that side – and the weather, which was pretty horrific - it was absolutely wild out there,” Weaver said following his side’s 1-1 draw at Wetherby Road.

“But, I thought that he was solid as a rock and made a huge contribution to a very good point for us.

"He was excellent. It was just that quiet reading of the game and his decision-making. He was clean and decisive at key moments. I don’t think he put a foot wrong.

"So I think that Anthony raised the bar again, but I have to say that Rory McArdle and Joe Mattock also played pivotal roles on Saturday.”

McArdle and Mattock lined up alongside O’Connor in a new-look back-three and restricted a Stevenage side who sit second in the division and turned over Premier League Aston Villa in their previous game to very few scoring chances on an attritional afternoon.

"It was a case of horses for courses with the back-three. Stevenage load the box at every opportunity,” Weaver added.

“I was very pleased with the defence. I thought they kept themselves in-tact, which was the important thing as a back-three.

"They weren’t stretched, they didn’t get caught out by balls down the sides, I thought they were excellent.

"In previous games, sometimes as a defensive unit we’ve got stretched or we have raced out to the ball against the counter-attack and exposed the grass in behind and it has hurt us."

Saturday’s draw drops Harrogate down to 20th in the table but edges them a point further away from the relegation zone and five ahead of 23rd-placed Hartlepool.