'Bring it on' - FA Cup hero Mark Beck says that Harrogate Town fear nobody

Harrogate Town striker Mark Beck celebrates the second of his two goals against FC Halifax Town during Saturday's FA Cup fourth qualifying round clash. Picture: Matt Kirkham

The 6ft 5in striker bagged a brace against FC Halifax Town on Saturday to set up a mouth-watering first round proper showdown with 2008 winners Portsmouth.

That victory was Harrogate's fifth in eight unbeaten outings, a run of form that has seen confidence soar inside the Wetherby Road dressing room.

"Eight unbeaten, spirits are very high in camp at the minute," Beck said following Town's 2-1 success at The Shay.

"Confidence is massive in football. If you're on a bad run you're looking at the fixtures thinking 'where are the next points coming from?', but we are looking at the fixtures now thinking 'bring it on'. We'll play anyone at the minute.

"Two wins at Halifax and the one at Yeovil just show that we can go anywhere and win and that's the feeling in the changing room as well.

"We believe we can go anywhere and win, and obviously at home as well.

"There's nothing to be scared of in the league and now in the cup we look forward to a big tie. It'll be nice to test ourselves against a big team.

"Anything can happen in the FA Cup."

Beck’s second goal of the afternoon against Halifax was teed up for him by strike partner Jack Muldoon in a role reversal of the decisive moment at Yeovil seven days earlier.

That took Beck’s tally for the season to five, while Muldoon has scored three, and although neither man will be completely satisfied with those numbers there are signs of a burgeoning partnership.

“I saw that Mullers was near the by-line and I thought the only thing he can do here is fire it across the front, so I just sort of had to read what he was gonna do and thankfully nipped across and got the touch on it,” Beck added.

“The first thing I said to him when we got back into the changing room was ‘is that you returning the favour from Yeovil?’ and we had a laugh about it.

“He’s great to play with, he reads the game very well when I’m going up [for a header] or setting it and he runs all day.

“The understanding is getting better. We had a run last year together and worked well and the more we’re playing with each other this season, the more you learn and I think you're starting to see that out on the pitch."