Bromley FC 2 Harrogate Town 0: Sulphurites punished for going into 'protective mode'

The Sulphurites were, without ever really impressing, on course for what would have been a very decent point on the road against unbeaten opposition, only to concede two late goals at Hayes Lane.

Town held their own during a largely uneventful opening 45 minutes, but having slipped into “protective mode” after the break they were ultimately punished for that lack of intent and ambition as Nicke Kabamba and Omar Sowunmi found the net in quick succession.

“It’s a game that we could, and should, have got something from,” Weaver told BBC Radio York.

“We came in at half-time at 0-0, probably the better team, to a point. We were keeping the home crowd quiet, but we lacked a bit of edge in the final third.

“I was wanting more from the team, not just accepting that we’ve turned up against Bromley, a really physical team, for what could be the hardest away game of the season. We’ve got to be more ambitious than that and I have got to keep driving the players because, in the second half, they went into protective mode.

“We squeezed up from the back when we had the ball, rather than passing it, and we have got to instil in the players that confidence to play in the same vein as the first half.

“When you don’t score, and when you’re not controlling the game, you’re likely to face balls into the box, and we succumbed to two good balls into the box where we got bullied, if I’m frank about it.”

There was little in the game to get either set of fans overly excited during the opening 74 minutes of Saturday’s contest in South East London.

James Belshaw was forced into action by a Marcus Dinanga strike and Michael Cheek’s looping header, though on both occasions the Town goalkeeper was able to make routine stops.

At the other end, Stephen Duke-McKenna threatened to add to his three-goal tally for the season in the 63rd minute, when he cut inside off the left wing and forced Grant Smith to palm away a curling right-footed effort.

Disaster then struck for Town in the 74th minute as Kyle Cameron beat Anthony O’Connor to Mitch Pinnock’s left-wing free-kick and forced Belshaw into a fine diving stop with a downward header.

Kabamba was however quickest to react, getting to the rebound ahead of Warren Burrell to slot home from close range.

Six minutes later, Pinnock hung up another inviting delivery from a free-kick and with Town centre-half Tom Bradbury having seemingly lost his bearings, Sowunmi was able to climb above O’Connor to nod over Belshaw for 2-0.

Defeat sees the Sulphurites drop out of the top half of the League Two standings and down to 14th position, where they sit on a total of eight points from six matches.