Harrogate Town 1 Crewe Alexandra 2: Late goal ends Sulphurites' three-game winning run

Jack Muldoon’s third goal in his last four League Two appearances saw the home side take an early lead, though the Railwaymen levelled matters just before the half-hour through a well-worked short-corner routine.

From that point onwards, the visitors were the better team, and in truth, ultimately deserved to go on and take all three points in front of the live Sky Sports cameras.

The Sulphurites didn’t do too much wrong on the night and were always in the contest, though they struggled to create goal-scoring opportunities and never really looked like adding to their fifth-minute opener.

That ideal start to proceedings came after Jack Evans played a long ball forward out of defence that Muldoon nodded into the path of Reece Smith, who then advanced down the left wing.

From there, he cut back inside onto his right foot and crossed to the back post, where Muldoon pulled off the back of Reece Hutchinson to head confidently past Tom Booth.

Happy to let Crewe see plenty of the ball, Harrogate seemed comfortable during the 20 minutes that followed, with the visitors unable to make much of an impression.

They were however almost gifted a route back into the contest when Sulphurites skipper Warren Burrell’s loose touch inside his own box gifted Calum Agius the opportunity to rifle a decent chance over the cross-bar.

But, just before the half-hour mark another Burrell error led to the Railwaymen levelling matters.

Town’s right-back put the ball behind for a corner as he attempted to nod it back to James Belshaw, and from the resulting set-piece, Hutchinson was able to chip a clever finish into the net from Tommi O’Reilly’s low, left-wing delivery.

Crewe grew in confidence having got back on terms and they began to ask more and more questions of the home defence as half-time approached.

Clear sights of goal were at a premium, though the Alex could well have had a penalty when Bobby Faulkner caught James Golding late at another corner.

It was the visitors who continued to make most of the running during the early stages of the second period and substitute Jack Lankester twice came close to giving them the lead either side of the hour.

Firstly he helped former Harrogate striker Josh March’s cross from the right just over the top, then he met Hutchinson’s centre from the opposite flank inside the six-yard box, only to see his goal-bound effort deflected wide by Evans.

Lankester threatened again moments later, whipping a strike narrowly past the upright from some distance outside the penalty area.

It was all Crewe at this stage, however Harrogate were able to feel their way back into the match around the midway point of the half and managed to engineer a couple of promising attacking opportunities without really opening their visitors up.

Substitute Ben Fox did draw a save from Booth with an attempt from distance, though his shot always looked to be heading wide.

A swift counter-attack then saw the Alex threaten at the other end as March raced onto Mickey Demetriou’s clearance and lashed a strike into the side-netting.

A fine, driving run by the lively Lankester then set up fellow substitute Emre Tezgel, who saw his effort deflected beyond Belshaw, but cleared off the line by the expertly-placed Anthony O’Connor.

Crewe were not to be denied, however, and they snatched a 2-1 lead in the 87th minute when Burrell allowed Max Sanders to advance unopposed towards the edge of the box and unleash a strike which glanced off O’Conor on its way past Belshaw.

The final minutes saw Town try to find a way back into the match, but although they did manage to apply a little bit of pressure on the away goal, there was to be no salvation.

Defeat means that the Sulphurites are now winless in seven League Two encounters with the Railwaymen, and leaves them 16th in the League Two standings after 11 rounds of fixtures.