Harrogate Town 0 Forest Green Rovers 1: Advertiser player ratings

Brendan Kiernan was Harrogate Town's top performer during Saturday's League Two loss to Forest Green Rovers. Pictures: Matt Kirkham

Here's an assessment of how Simon Weaver's players performed in the first game to take place in front of supporters for almost nine months.

James Belshaw 7 - Produced a decent save to deny Nicky Cadden and handled the ball tidily throughout. Helpless to prevent Rovers' goal.

Ryan Fallowfield 6 - Town looked better for having him back in the side following a two-match absence, though he was troubled by the pace of the dangerous Cadden at times. Will be disappointed that the Forest Green winger was able to run around him to set up the only goal of the game.

Jake Lawlor keeps his eye on the ball under pressure from Rovers' goal-scorer, Jamille Matt.

Jake Lawlor 6 - An assured, composed performance for almost the entirety of the contest which deserved a higher rating than this, but crucially he switched off and lost his man, allowing Jamille Matt a tap-in to decide the game.

Connor Hall 7 - Rarely lets his standards drop and again looked solid at centre-half. Won his headers and made a couple of important blocks.

Warren Burrell 6 - The left-back kept things pretty tight down his side of the field.

George Thomson 6 - Passed the ball nicely and showed some nice touches, while his set-piece delivery was okay. Could perhaps have done a bit better with a couple of shooting opportunities.

Aaron Martin lets fly at the Forest Green goal.

Josh Falkingham 7 - The intensity of his play was a stand-out feature of the opening 45. Tried to keep Town ticking over when they were in possession of the ball.

Connor Kirby 7 - Probably his best display in a Harrogate shirt. Looked busy throughout. Covered back well on a couple of occasions to make important interventions inside his own box.

Brendan Kiernan 7 - ADVERTISER STAR MAN. Town's brightest spark on the day. He was full of running and trickery and kept trying to make something happen until the very last second. Missed the target with two attempts and saw another saved. Also looked to have been brought down when through on goal.

Aaron Martin 6 - Restored to the starting XI and worked hard as the focal point of the home attack. Competed well in the air and showed some decent bits of hold-up play to bring other players into the game, particularly in the first half. But, one strike from outside the box aside, he never really looked like scoring.

Jack Muldoon 6 - A little bit of a peripheral figure at times. Tried to drop off so he could effect proceedings, though it just didn't really happen. The problem for Town is that if he doesn't score or set up a goal, then they generally don't get many.