Harrogate Town 1 Cheltenham Town 1: Sulphurites shouldn't be 'devastated' with a point
Although he felt that they could “quite easily” have taken all three, Simon Weaver insisted that Harrogate Town should not be “devastated” just to end up with a point from Friday night’s clash with Cheltenham.
The Sulphurites missed the opportunity to climb out of the League Two relegation zone after drawing 1-1 with an out-of-form Robins side at Wetherby Road.
The Gloucestershire outfit arrived in North Yorkshire having won just one of their previous seven matches, meaning that the fixture had an very winnable look about it for a Town side in desperate need of victories.
But, although they fell behind to an Isaac Hutchinson strike almost immediately after the second half kicked off, Harrogate responded swiftly through Cathal Heffernan’s head from a Reece Smith corner, and went on to push hard for a crucial second goal.
In the end, Cheltenham were indebted to gloveman Joe Day, who made fine saves to deny Bryn Morris, Reece Smith, Ellis Taylor and Bobby Faulkner, leaving Weaver far from unhappy with his team’s overall showing.
"I am proud of the efforts of the players,” he told BBC Radio York. “To go a goal down was a bit of a slap in the face, and I was disappointed with that moment, but we didn’t half respond well.
"We came back at them and scored four minutes later, and that was delightful.
"We responded with real character, with oomph and passion, and could quite easily have come away victorious tonight. It wasn’t to be, but it is another game unbeaten.
“Because of the magnitude of the situation, we all wanted the three points. But, just because this was another team in the bottom third, it doesn’t meant that we should be devastated with a point.
"It’s another game unbeaten, and not many teams in the bottom-two clubs throughout the country go five unbeaten.”
As positive as they were during the second period, Town looked tentative at times before the break, though Weaver did not feel they did too much wrong.
“Bearing in mind where we are, second from bottom and needing points, there is tension in the air, but I didn’t see much of that in our performance,” he added.
"People might think that we were a bit ponderous in the first half, however I would like to think that we showed good composure and were willing to be patient.
"In the first half, we could have got more balls into their box. In the second half, we did, but we just have to have that clinical edge to finish teams off.
"But, credit to Cheltenham, I thought that they looked a good team, so it wasn’t ever going to be easy.
"There is a bit of disappointment because I think we had 20-odd shots today after having 25 on Saturday against Bromley. So I would love to be four points better off, but we might have to do it the hard way.”