Harrogate Town 0 Stevenage FC 0: Simon Weaver 'annoyed' by 'flat' display

Victory would have taken Simon Weaver's team up to fourth in the League Two standings, but they simply didn't do enough on the night to breakdown a stubborn Boro rearguard.

And, the Town boss let his players know that he wasn't satisfied with their efforts after the full-time whistle.

"This was the most annoyed I've been in the dressing room after a game in some time," Weaver said.

"I'd said at half-time 'just don't let yourselves down by being flat', but it pretty much was flat throughout. Nobody grabbed it.

"There wasn't even that voice of discontent out on the pitch saying 'we can't settle for this', but there's not many times when I am annoyed with them.

"This is probably the first disappointment of the season with regards the performance. It was just a bit flat.

"We lacked our usual oomph and didn't do enough to warrant the victory."

Stevenage signaled their intentions from the first whistle, lining up with five in midfield and keeping 10 men behind the ball whenever Harrogate were in possession.

And, Alex Revell's tactics worked to good effect during the opening 45 minutes, Town finding the going tough and very little space to play in.

With the home side struggling to open their opponents up, it was the visitors who came closest to breaking the deadlock on 34 minutes when Elliot List glanced a header from Marcus Dinanga’s left-wing cross just past the far post.

An even better opportunity arrived at the other end just moments later as Ryan Fallowfield picked out the unmarked Jon Stead with a centre from the right.

The veteran seemed to have all the time in the world to pick his spot, only to direct his header against the outside of the upright and wide.

The second period saw Stevenage continue to keep numbers behind the ball and happy to time-waste in between punting aimless long balls forward with the apparent hope of trying to win throw-ins deep in home territory.

Still, despite enjoying plenty of possession, Harrogate couldn't find sufficient momentum or that one bit of magic to unlock the Boro back-line.

Brendan Kiernan was introduced in the 68th minute and briefly threatened to breathe life into the Town attack, getting past visiting right-back Alex Vancooten on three occasions in quick succession and delivering decent balls into the box.

The same player almost made a breakthrough on 80 minutes with a sweetly-struck volley that Jamie Cumming did well to push to safety before denying Tom Walker at his near post just a couple of seconds later.

For all their lack of ambition, Stevenage could have snatched victory late on when Scott Cuthbert made a clever near-post run to meet a corner from the left, though his header drifted wide of the back stick.

Walker then took aim from 20 yards in injury-time, but his strike cleared the Stevenage bar, and with that effort went Harrogate's hopes of three points.

Harrogate: Belshaw; Fallowfield, Smith, Hall, Burrell; Thomson (Walker 78), Falkingham, Kirby, Miller (Kiernan 63); Muldoon, Stead (Beck 70) . Unused substitutes: Cracknell, Jones, Lokko.

Stevenage: Cumming; Vancooten (Carter 70), Cuthbert, Prosser, Coker; Vincelot; List (Marshall 75), Osbourne, Read, Akinwande (Newton 82); Dinanga. Unused substitutes: Johnson, Effiong, Smith, Oteh.

Referee: G Salisbury (Lancashire).