Colchester United 3 Harrogate Town 1: Sulphurites 'committed suicide' on way to third straight loss
Simon Weaver said that his Harrogate Town side “committed suicide” on their way to a 3-1 defeat at Colchester United.
For the third game in succession, the Sulphurites took an early lead, only to then proceed to gift away poor goals and finish up empty-handed.
Stephen Duke-McKenna swept home an excellent third-minute finish to get the visitors off to a flying start before Harry Anderson completed a first-half hat-trick to put Colchester in full control.
Confidence seemed to drain from the Town players after they fell behind, and although more competitive after the break, they never really looked like getting themselves back into the contest.
Weaver conceded that his side did have the “wind knocked out of their sails”, but said that was “inevitable” after they conceded three times in the space of half an hour.
Thus, just seven days on from their defensive horror-show at Fleetwood, the Harrogate chief was once again left tearing his hair out.
"It’s another game where we go home with nothing from conceding daft goals,” he said.
"The way we started the game, I thought that we looked a top-three team, then we go and commit suicide by completely switching off.
"Out of possession, in our defensive third, we are shooting ourselves in the foot at the moment.
"It knocks the wind out of your sails when you concede the goals that we are. Conceding three goals in one half is no good for any football team.
"And Colchester are a good team, they knocked six past Chesterfield here. So, if you are sloppy in any way, or don’t defend with bite, or just don’t defend by staying in the present, they will punish you.”
Saturday’s defeat sees Harrogate drop to 19th place in the League Two standings, where they now sit just five points clear of the relegation zone.