Harrogate Town 0 Tranmere Rovers 2: Wasteful Sulphurites’ winning run is ended

The Sulphurites headed into Friday night’s League Two fixture buoyed by back-to-back victories over Notts County, Grimsby and Accrington, and served up another decent footballing performance.

But, Matty Foulds, Josh March and Matty Daly all failed to even hit the target when presented with clear-cut scoring opportunities - and those misses ultimately proved very costly.

With the wind at their backs on a wet and blustery evening, Simon Weaver’s men dominated the first half, enjoying 64 percent of possession and managing eight shots at goal to Tranmere’s none.

But despite passing the ball tidily and engineering some promising attacking situations, Town struggled to really put Rovers under any concerted pressure.

March did come close to finishing off Foulds’ cross from the left early on, while Daly was thwarted by a Luke McGee save in the 29th minute before Dean Cornelius’ goal-bound effort was expertly tipped over the cross-bar by the visiting custodian.

The second period began with a flurry of action, Foulds powering a free header high and wide from George Thomson’s corner, when he really ought to have done much better with the goal at his mercy.

Tranmere’s Kieron Morris then drilled an effort narrowly wide at the other end of the field before the away side broke the deadlock with their first effort on target.

An incisive 54th-minute raid ended with Connor Jennings slipping a pass across the face of the Harrogate penalty area for substitute Charlie Jolley to slot past James Belshaw one-on-one.

A glorious opportunity to level matters came and went just three minutes later. Foulds hung up a cross from the left, Jack Muldoon climbed highest at the far post, but March’s acrobatic first-time effort from that knockdown cleared the bar when it looked easier to hit the target.

Town continued to press, though it was Rovers who were next to threaten, Rob Apter taking aim from distance and drawing a decent stop out of Belshaw.

And it was all too easy for the Merseysiders to add a second goal and take full control of proceedings in the 70th minute after the ineffective Abraham Odoh once again lost possession and set Tranmere away on the break.

From the right-wing corner which followed, Tom Davies outjumped marker Foulds and nodded Regan Hendry’s delivery past Belshaw.

Their tails up, Rovers kept coming and almost pulled three clear as Apter was narrowly off target with a curling strike, before the same player forced Belshaw into a scrambling save.

Daly could and probably should have reduced the deficit with less than 10 minutes of normal time remaining, though he could only steer Kayne Ramsay’s inviting, low, right-wing centre wide of the far post from close to the penalty spot.

And that was as close as the Sulphurites would come, defeat dropping them down three places to 15th in the League Two standings.