Doncaster Rovers 1 Harrogate Town 0: Late goal condemns Sulphurites to 'galling' defeat

The Sulphurites appeared on course to extend their unbeaten league run into a fourth match, and to keep a fourth consecutive clean-sheet, until disaster struck in the 86th minute of Saturday's derby clash at the EcoPower Stadium.

Harry Clifton's tame effort should not have found its way into the away net, but somehow squirmed underneath the body of James Belshaw - so often his team's saviour this season.

And having looked good value for a share of the spoils, that late blow was tough for Weaver and his men to take.

"To come away with nothing is particularly galling because of the efforts of everyone,” the Harrogate boss said.

"I thought that we were good in the second half, and therefore I felt that it was either going to be possibly a1-0 win for us as we approached the dying minutes because we were a bit more in the ascendancy than them, or a 0-0.

“I can’t recall many moments where I was concerned looking at our defence and the way they were performing. As a team, we were frustrating Doncaster and it wasn’t wave after wave at any stage. I didn’t think we looked like conceding.

"And there were a couple of times when I was out of my seat thinking ‘this could be the moment we break the deadlock.’ So it's disappointing to come away with nothing."

Harrogate had won four of the previous five League Two meetings with their Yorkshire rivals, and although Doncaster saw more of the ball, Weaver's side created a couple of decent chances to take the lead.

Josh March came close with a spectacular overhead kick, before Anthony O’Connor directed a free header from Bryn Morris’ left-wing free-kick straight into the arms of Teddy Sharman-Lowe when he ought to have done much better.

Olly Sanderson then wasted Town’s best opportunity of the match, skying March’s superb cross from the right despite having plenty of time to pick his spot just six yards out.

And the visitors were ultimately left empty-handed as a result of a moment which will likely haunt their goalkeeper.

Clifton received a pass from fellow substitute Jordan Gibson just outside the Town box and stroked a low strike straight at Belshaw, though the ball evaded his grasp.

Reflecting on the contest as a whole, Weaver added: “It was our slowest start for quite some time and we needed to bring more energy.

"We didn't have much composure on the ball in the first 20 minutes, so we felt a bit leggy because you're chasing around. But Doncaster didn't really create much.

"You get to 20 minutes and I wasn't really satisfied with the performance, but I was satisfied with the score-line. They are third in the table after all, a good strong outfit with threats all over the park.

"I thought that we would grow in confidence and we did, certainly in the second half. We had to start the engines a bit faster, we couldn't just defend and be stubborn, we had to offer the game more going forward - and we did. We posed more of a threat.

"We probably had the game's better opportunities to score, but it didn't go our way today."

Defeat sees the gap between 19th-placed Town and the League Two relegation zone cut to eight points, with second-from-bottom Carlisle and basement boys Morecambe both having played two games less.