Harrogate Town 0 Forest Green Rovers 1: Return of fans fails to inspire much-needed victory

Spectators were allowed back inside the EnviroVent Stadium for the first time in almost nine months for the visit of high-flying Forest Green, with around 500 spectators attending Saturday's League Two showdown.

And those season-ticket holders fortunate enough to be granted admission were treated to a performance that was a ten-fold improvement on the one served up during the Sulphurites' midweek thrashing by Scunthorpe United.

But, for all their industry, endeavour and tidy passing, Simon Weaver's men looked toothless in the final third and simply never looked like breaching a stubborn Rovers defence.

It was Forest Green who settled the quicker and there were a few moments of early concern for the home back-line, before Town began to assert themselves on proceedings.

George Thomson and Brendan Kiernan both came inside off the right flank and got themselves into dangerous areas, only to direct their finishes high and wide of the far post.

The biggest talking point of the opening half-an-hour came on 27 minutes when referee Marc Edwards lost his bottle and opted to do nothing after Liam Kitching denied Kiernan a clear run in on goal by bringing the Harrogate winger down right on the edge of the penalty area.

At the other end, it was Forest Green who carved out arguably the clearest openings of the first 45, Aaron Collins heading Chris Stokes' left-wing cross wide at the near post, then dragging another decent opening across the face of goal just a couple of minutes later.

Clearly boosted by having some of their fans back on the terraces, the Town players continued to go about their business with the kind of energy and intensity that was all-too noticeably missing in Tuesday's 5-2 defeat to Scunthorpe.

They were able to build several more promising attacks, though with that little bit of required quality missing when it really mattered, visiting goalkeeper Luke McGee remained largely untroubled as Connor Kirby blasted Jack Muldoon's lay-off out of the ground.

And it was Harrogate number one James Belshaw who was forced into the first meaningful save of the match on 54 minutes, getting down well to keep out Nicky Cadden's fierce effort at his near post.

Three minutes later, the Town stopper was however picking the ball out of the back of his net.

Cadden took on Ryan Fallowfield down the left and managed to beat his opponent for pace, delivering a low cross into the six-yard-box which Jamille Matt could hardly miss having escaped the attentions of marker Jake Lawlor.

Undeterred, Weaver's troops kept on probing away, though it would take until the final 10 minutes for them to build up a genuine head of steam.

Aaron Martin saw a 20-yard blast deflected over the top, an effort that sparked a sequence of corners as the hosts attempted to turn the screw.

They managed to keep Rovers penned deep inside their own territory right through until the final whistle, but aside from long-range shots from Thomson and then Kiernan - both of which were easily gathered by McGee - there was precious little for the away team to worry about.

Defeat means that Town have now taken just five points from the last 27 on offer and sees them drop to 17th in the League Two standings.

Harrogate: Belshaw; Fallowfield, Lawlor, Hall, Burrell; Thomson, Falkingham, Kirby (Beck 90+1); Kiernan, Martin, Muldoon. Unused substitutes: Cracknell, Stead, Kerry, Miller, Lokko.

Forest Green: McGee; Godwin-Malife, Stokes, Kitching; Moore-Taylor; Richardson, Adams, Winchester (Wagstaff 90+1), Cadden; Matt, Collins (Sweeney 84). Unused substitutes: Thomas, Wilson, Stevens, Bailey, Whitehouse.

Referee: M Edwards.