Harrogate Town 0 Gillingham FC 3: 'Confidence' evaporating as Sulphurites continue to sleepwalk towards relegation

Now winless in 17 matches, Saturday’s defeat saw the sorry Sulphurites slip to the bottom of the table, with wins elsewhere for fellow strugglers Newport and Crawley leaving Simon Weaver’s team three points from safety.

Their performance at the weekend was equally as dire as their recent form, a sequence of results which has seen them claim just four points from the last 51 on offer.

What made matters worse was that it was entirely in keeping with the vast majority of displays that Town have served up in front of their own fans over the course of the last four months.

The Gills arrived in North Yorkshire on a fairly poor run themselves, having tasted victory just one of their previous 10 league outings.

But, sadly lacking in both quality and belief, Harrogate never really looked like ending a goal-drought at the Exercise Stadium which now stretches back almost four months and more than 12 hours of football – let alone winning the game.

Level at the interval despite offering very little as an attacking threat during a first half which saw Henry Gray required to make three big saves, it was entirely inevitable that the hosts would go on and lose yet another game after Connor Masterson fired Gillingham into the lead five minutes into the second period.

Not aided by yet another poor refereeing decision which saw the visitors gifted a penalty as Josh Andrews went down in the box following an innocuous tangle with Chanse Headman, Town found themselves 2-0 down when Armani Little converted from the spot just four minutes later.

A dismal afternoon was then rounded off late on when Sam Voakes took advantage of some more flimsy defending to ram the ball into the top corner for 3-0.

The complete lack of confidence and conviction in his side’s showing was impossible to ignore, and Weaver admitted after the final whistle how much of an impact it had on proceedings.

“Obviously, confidence is an issue right now,” he told BBC Radio York.

“We were edgy first half, and that is a confidence issue. There was no connection between the midfield and the front men, it just wasn’t working.

“We needed to pass the ball, and that was the instruction at half-time. In the second half, we played better but conceded three goals from three moments.

“There was a little bit of hesitation, and apprehension creeping in, but that’s because we are bottom of the league, and in circumstances that really are difficult.

“But, I think that Gillingham are a good outfit. They are powerful and have a lot of experience at Football League level, League One and higher. And they have won 3-0 because of good finishing and that little bit more seniority, knowing when to play and when not to.”

Weaver went on to describe the decision of referee Zac Kennard-Kettle to award Gillingham the softest of 55th-minute spot-kicks, a moment that realistically ended any hopes of Town fighting their way back into the contest, as “harsh”.

"It gave them a position of strength [at 2-0], and the confidence then build up for them.

“It seemed like it must’ve been hard for Chanse to avoid him.

“He couldn’t really have been aware that he [Andrews] was going to run across the back of him.

“And I feel for him there, it is difficult, because I think he played well.”