Harrogate Town 1 Swindon Town 4: Simon Weaver opts against kicking his players 'while they are down'

Simon Weaver refused to publicly kick his Harrogate Town players "while they are down" following Good Friday's 4-1 mauling by Swindon.
Harrogate Town suffered a third consecutive home defeat when they hosted Swindon Town on Good Friday. Pictures: Matt KirkhamHarrogate Town suffered a third consecutive home defeat when they hosted Swindon Town on Good Friday. Pictures: Matt Kirkham
Harrogate Town suffered a third consecutive home defeat when they hosted Swindon Town on Good Friday. Pictures: Matt Kirkham

The injury-hit Sulphurites were completely outclassed by their promotion-chasing visitors and could have had absolutely no complaints had they lost the game by a significantly greater margin.

The body language of some of those in yellow and black betrayed the lack of confidence which has become increasingly apparent in recent weeks, the culmination of a run of seven defeats in nine League Two matches.

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Town also looked second best in almost every area of the pitch, but while Weaver admitted that he had to deliver some home truths behind closed doors at full-time, he held back during his post-match press duties.

Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver.Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver.
Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver.

“After a difficult afternoon like this I don’t want to be ultra critical and knock the lads while they are down," he said.

“We were down to the bare bones. Any team at this level is going to struggle with eight or nine players injured. You can’t just roll up and go toe-to-toe with a team of Swindon’s quality when you have that many players missing.

"What is said in the changing room stays in the changing room and I do have to be stinging and direct in my approach at times because it can't be frothy and nice after a result like this.

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"We were outplayed today by a really good side with some good League One players but, to be fair, nobody downed tools. They battled hard. It could have ended up being five, six or seven and it would in some environments.

"But, the lads kept going and the fans, who were brilliant, have ended up clapping them off the pitch after losing 4-1 because of the last 20 minutes. What we have got to do is stay honest and keep working."

Town heads visibly dropped after Louie Barry netted twice in seven first-half minutes to put Swindon in control before Josh Davison’s second-half brace took the away advantage to four.

Luke Armstrong struck in stoppage-time to reduce the deficit, though there was to be no escaping what was Harrogate’s third consecutive home loss.

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On the body language of his players, Weaver added: “I think you’ll find that’s confidence in sport. Anyone who has played sport, even at amateur level, understands that.

"This situation is a test of the mentality. We’re playing at the highest level we’ve ever been at, we’ve got eight or nine injured and had a really hard second half of the season.

"Psychology is a huge part of the game. Football is played between the ears and these players, they are on stage.

"There were a couple who looked laboured, I would say. I won't name names, but there were a couple who looked like they lacked the required bite or wherewithal to go again and that is disappointing, but let's not tar everyone with the same brush.

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"It was hard today. We tried to press high with intensity, but sometimes they were good enough to break through that press and Swindon have got players who are good enough to keep it in tight areas and really hurt you."

Friday's loss was Town’s seventh in nine matches and drops them down to 18th in the table, though they remain 10 points clear of the drop zone with just four matches remaining this term.