Gillingham FC 1 Harrogate Town 2: 'Character and attitude' help Sulphurites record back-to-back wins

The Sulphurites triumphed 2-1 down in Kent on Saturday afternoon thanks to second-half strikes from Anthony O’Connor and Josh March, moving eight points clear of the League Two relegation zone in the process.

That victory follows on from last weekend’s success by the same score-line against Chesterfield, and Weaver was once again left “delighted” with both the performance, and the result.

“I thought that the players fully deserved the win in difficult, very trying conditions,” he said. “It was really wild out there, a swirling wind, so it’s not always in your control. These are the worst conditions to play in.

"But, the attitude and character was there for everyone to see. I thought that the lads relished the battle.

"We came in at half-time and I thought that we had done well in that first half. We were solid, and it was a typical Harrogate Town performance of old with the battling qualities.

"I am very proud that two weeks on the bounce, we have been very intense with the display – and the reaction to conceding a goal shortly after half-time was a real delight. We got the ball down and played, and probably played to better level after we conceded.

"The goals we scored, one was a really well-worked set-piece routine from a corner – that was superb – and the second, the pass through to Marchy and his finish was exquisite, so there were moments of quality too.”

The first half of Saturday’s contest was almost entirely devoid of goal-mouth action with neither side really able to find any rhythm.

The closest Town came to breaking the deadlock was when James Daly shot wide of the mark from just outside the penalty area, while Gillingham’s best effort came via Max Clark, who sent a swerving half-volley over the cross-bar from distance.

It would however take just four minutes of second-half action for the hosts to force a breakthrough. Clark delivered an inswinging corner from the right and Timothy Dieng managed to hold off marker Stephen Dooley at the far post and finish from close range.

Things almost got even worse for Harrogate moments later, a swift counter-attack ending with Elliot Nevitt firing an effort against the outside of the post.

But the visitors responded well to falling behind, and didn’t have to wait long to get back on terms. With the hour-mark approaching, a right-wing corner routine saw Stephen Duke-McKenna and James Daly combine to good effect, with the latter cutting inside and into the box before seeing his low strike deflected onto the upright.

Centre-half O’Connor was however on hand to stab home the rebound inside the six-yard box, bagging his first goal for the Sulphurites since he netted in April’s 5-1 home mauling of the same opposition.

The game’s stand-out moment of real quality then led to Town getting their noses in front. The ball broke to Jack Muldoon on the halfway line and his superbly-weighted first-time pass dissected the Gills’ back-line and released March, who showed great composure in beating Jake Turner one-on-one.

Weaver’s men looked fairly comfortable for the remainder of the contest, with their hosts only creating one genuine opportunity to equalise when former Harrogate loanee Josh Andrews cleared the bar from eight yards out.

On his side’s response to going 1-0 down, Weaver added: "I’m really pleased with that reaction.

"Of course, you might say ‘why didn’t you play like that before [conceding] but the game quite often is psychological.

"We looked angered by it but we didn’t look desperate. We had to play that way, we had to get on the front foot, and that is what we are trying to get the lads to do and they are relishing the moment, to be honest.”

Saturday’s success keeps Town 17th in the League Two standings, but lifts them eight points clear of the division’s bottom three.