Harrogate Town 3 Eastleigh 0: Confidence is fuelling promotion push, says George Thomson

Saturday's 3-0 home success over Eastleigh means that since Christmas, Simon Weaver's men have won nine times in 11 outings, losing just once.

That run of form has taken them to within five points of National League leaders Barrow and leaves them seven clear of third-placed Boreham Wood, albeit having played two games more.

And Thomson, who has been rewarded for his own purple patch with a new contract, believes that Town's results owe much to the belief currently in the camp, plus the fact that all of his team-mates know their jobs.

"Obviously I had some good news with extending my contract here. It makes you feel good about yourself, makes you feel wanted, so I feel like I'm riding a little bit of a wave at the minute," the 27-year-old winger said.

"But, I think that we all are with the performances that we're putting in. When you're winning games, there's no better feeling in football.

"There's no panic. That comes with confidence, and the dressing room is full of confidence at the moment, every single player is playing with it.

"Obviously it helps when you score the first goal, but the last couple of games, from the first whistle, we've been the team that's been dominant and looked like we're gonna get the first goal. When we do, we feel comfortable keeping the ball, and everyone knows what they've got to do.

"Everyone's going about their jobs. It's workmanlike, it's professional and hopefully we can keep the buzz about the place building."

Having scored twice and assisted the other in Town's 3-0 victory over Yeovil Town in their previous home game, Thomson then went on to find the back of the net within 60 seconds of kick-off at Barnet in midweek.

That fixture was eventually abandoned at half-time, though the former FC United of Manchester attacker picked up where he left off on Saturday, coming in off the right flank to lay on two more goals for team-mates.

"It's always good to contribute with assists," Thomson added.

"The feeling is just as good as scoring a goal, but obviously the three points is the most important thing at the business end of the season.

"I think with the conditions, with the wind, we were trying to make sure that we were quite close together because it was difficult and sometimes we didn't really know where the ball was going to drop, so I found myself quite narrow .

"We're narrow out of possession anyway and when it was breaking down for them I was finding myself in pockets and I like to play that way.

"I'm more of a player who will come in off the line rather than an out-and-out winger, so it was good, I felt like I was getting on the ball quite a lot and there were the two assists as well.

"It was another difficult day with the conditions, but we've come away with a 3-0 win at a crucial time of the season."

Thomson played his part as Town broke the deadlock after 20 minutes of Saturday's contest, receiving the ball from Jack Muldoon inside the area then laying it off for Josh Falkingham to calmly slot past Max Stryjek.

The hosts doubled their lead two minutes before the interval following a swift counter-attack.

With Harrogate raiding down the centre of the pitch, an Eastleigh defender looked to intervene, but succeeded only in passing the ball straight to Jack Diamond.

The Sunderland loanee initially looked to have lost possession 20 yards from goal, but recovered to fire a fine effort past the visiting goalkeeper.

Despite playing into a strong wind after the interval, Town continued to boss proceedings and they ended the game as a contest on 68 minutes thanks to a piece of Thomson magic.

Having once again drifted into a more central area, he displayed some dazzling footwork as he dropped his shoulder and shimmied past an opponent then slid a cute pass through to Muldoon, who beat Stryjek one-one-one.