Entirely fitting that Jack Muldoon was the man to extend Harrogate Town's extraordinary opening-day record

The 34-year-old forward netted a 66th-minute penalty to earn the Sulphurites a 1-0 victory at Doncaster Rovers on Saturday, meaning they have now won each of their four League Two curtain-raisers since promotion was secured in the summer of 2020.

Having beaten Southend United 4-0 in what was their first-ever fourth-tier outing, they won a dramatic encounter with Rochdale by a 3-2 scoreline on the first weekend of 2021/22 before romping to a 3-0 success over Swindon last year.

Muldoon’s own record is similarly impressive. He bagged a brace in that demolition of Southend, set up the opening goal for Luke Armstrong as Dale were seen off and also netted Town’s third in 2022’s Swindon success.

His first-game-of-the-season contributions stretch back as far as Harrogate’s maiden game in the National League, when he struck on his competitive debut during a 2-2 draw with Sutton United on August 4, 2018.

That means Muldoon has weighed in with five goals and one assist in six opening-day appearances – statistics and impact that have not been lost on his manager.

“He’s come up with so many important goals hasn't he?” Simon Weaver said following Saturday’s Yorkshire derby triumph.

“His record stands up to everybody who's played and performed for the town and you know Saturday was another great performance from Jack.

“He stepped into the breach today [after Luke Armstrong made himself unavailable for selection] and we can be proud of his efforts.

“I’m proud of that finish from the spot because he had a long time to wait between the penalty decision being made and then executing the finish.”

Now one of the elder statesmen in Town’s squad, Muldoon himself insists that he is feeling as fit as ever and still has plenty more to give.

“This pre-season, apart from the first week with my back, I’ve had a good pre-season, I feel absolutely terrific,” he said.

“Ben [Rome – fitness coach] has done a fantastic job with the boys, and personally, I felt right up for the battle on the day.

“This is what you train for, day in, day out. We all put ourselves out there and we got the result.”

Saturday’s win at Doncaster means that Town are now unbeaten on the opening day of the season in eight matches having not tasted defeat since their 1-0 National League North loss at Brackley in August 2015.

Sulphurites’ opening-day record since 2015:

2015/16 – Brackley Town (a) 0-1 National League North

2016/17 – Worcester City (a) 2-2 National League North

2017/18 – Nuneaton (h) 4-0 National League North

2018/19 – Sutton United (h) 2-2 National League

2019/20 – Solihull Moors (h) 2-2 National League North

2020/21 – Southend United (a) 4-0 League Two

2021/22 – Rochdale (h) 3-2 League Two

2022/23 – Swindon Town (h) 3-0 League Two

2023/24 – Doncaster Rovers (a) 1-0 League Two