Harrogate Town 2 Shrewsbury Town 0: Sulphurites register first win in five attempts

Excellent finishes by Jack Muldoon and substitute Conor McAleny settled Saturday lunchtime’s contest, with the Sulphurites ultimately very good value for all three points.

Simon Weaver’s men made a bright start to proceedings on what was a wet afternoon in North Yorkshire and almost broke the deadlock with just five minutes gone.

Bryn Morris drove forwards through midfield and released Ellis Taylor, whose low cross from the left picked out Muldoon. The Harrogate striker’s first effort was saved by a sprawling Elyh Harrison, with the ball then striking a post before rebounding into the grateful Shrews stopper’s arms.

Another promising attack down the same side of the pitch saw Jack Evans deliver a delicious ball across the face of goal that the sliding Muldoon just failed to get on the end of.

The hosts continued to see plenty of the ball and kept probing away without reward, but with the 20-minute mark approaching Shrewsbury began to grow into the contest.

And they were gifted their first real sight of goal on 25 minutes when Anthony O’Connor needlessly gave the ball away as he tried to play out from the back, before redeeming himself by deflecting Taylor Perry’s goal-bound shot behind for a corner.

The visitors then saw vociferous appeals for a penalty for handball waved away before Bradley Ihionvien blazed over the cross-bar from Ismeal Kabia’s cut-back.

Seriously lacking in terms of their delivery and decision-making in the final third, Harrogate failed to threaten again before the interval and could easily have fallen behind in first-half stoppage time.

An inviting corner was swung over from the left by Tom Sang, and Will Boyle powered a header over the top when he ought to have done far better.

Town began the second period in similar fashion to the way they had finished the first, getting themselves into some decent areas but then lacking any kind of conviction when it really mattered.

With no real presence inside the penalty area and hamstrung by their unnecessarily tentative approach, there was very little to suggest that a goal was coming as the rain continued to pour.

One did however arrive out of nowhere in the 65th minute after Morris opted to take the direct approach and launch a long pass from close to halfway towards the edge of the Shrewsbury box.

With substitute Toto Nsiala seemingly losing his bearings, Muldoon was able to control the ball on his chest with his first touch, before lofting a calm finish over the advancing Harrison with his second.

Shrewsbury were forced to throw caution to the wind as they sought a way back into the match in the closing stages, though it was Harrogate who came closest to grabbing the next goal on the counter-attack on 74 minutes.

Their most incisive move of the match saw the recently-arrived McAleny play a neat one-two with Reece Smith before racing through on goal and drawing an excellent save from Harrison.

The two then combined to good effect in the 86th minute after Harrison made a complete mess of clearing his lines, but on this occasion it was McAleny teeing up Smith to test Harrison from an almost identical position.

A minute later, the Shrews goalkeeper was however unable to save his side as Town came again.

McAleny picked up the ball inside his own half and advanced down the middle of the pitch, skinning Nsiala before taking aim from 23 yards and sending a low strike skidding beyond Harrison’s despairing dive.

Seven minutes were added on by referee Ross Joyce, but there was to be no onslaught from the visitors, while at the other end Stephen Duke-McKenna fired tamely at Harrison before debutant left-bat Jacob stung his palms with a fierce blast.

Weaver’s team had however already done more than enough to make sure of what was their third league victory of the campaign.