Harrogate Town 1 Crawley Town 1: Stand-in boss wanted to make 'seven or eight' changes at half-time

The Sulphurites' assistant manager took charge of the Wetherby Road club on Saturday afternoon in the absence of boss Simon Weaver, currently self-isolating as a Covid-19 precaution.

And, despite a bright start to proceedings, Town fell away badly in the second part of the opening 45.

Having come close to breaking the deadlock on a trio of occasions themselves, the hosts spent the final 20 minutes of the half firmly on the back foot after falling behind to Max Watters’ close-range finish.

If it wasn’t for a couple of excellent James Belshaw saves and a goal-line clearance by Ryan Fallowfield, Harrogate would have been in deep, deep trouble by the break.

And Thirlwell revealed that he didn't hold back when it came to conveying his displeasure within the four walls of the home changing room.

"We just hadn't turned up in the first half. Being honest, there could have been six, seven or eight changes at half-time because the vast majority of the team wasn't at it," he said.

"We have standards that we expect and we were nowhere near them in the first half. It was nowhere near good enough.

"At half-time, there were a few things said. There were messages and things that no footballer likes being told. There were a few home truths.

"It's not just about how bad we were, however. Credit to Crawley because they imposed themselves on us as the half went on, got their goal and to be honest could maybe have got another one or two.

"But, as frustrated as I was at half-time we have to be pleased with the second half."

Town's improvement after the break can't simply be attributed to their half-time dressing down, with a tactical change also proving significant.

Left-winger Tom Walker was replaced by Aaron Martin, who took up a central striking role as the hosts switched from 4-4-2 to what looked more of a 4-3-3 formation.

"It's not to be blamed on Tom Walker in any way, shape or form. It wasn't his fault, but we just felt we needed an injection somewhere, a physical presence at the top end of the pitch and pace down both sides," Thirlwell added

"We just needed to change it because it wasn't happening for us, so we made the substitution and then a little bit of a change in system, which I feel benefited us.

"We came out a totally different side and, as the half progressed, we feel we certainly deserved a point and probably could have gone on and nicked it.

"It's a really good point in the end."

Saturday's 1-1 draw leaves Town 12th in the League Two standings with 16 points from their opening 12 matches.