Harrogate Town 4 Eastleigh FC 1: Sulphurites bounce back with a 'display of substance'

Having suffered back-to-back defeats to fellow promotion hopefuls Fylde and Boreham Wood, the Sulphurites headed into Saturday’s National League clash in urgent need of a positive result.

And they delivered exactly that, earning their just desserts for an energetic passing display which saw them play with real intent and – most importantly – a genuine cutting edge.

Understandably, manager Simon Weaver was thrilled by his players’ reaction to those two set-backs.

"I think it was the perfect response and the timing was great to win in such convincing style,” he told the Harrogate Advertiser.

"We had two games in the space of a couple of days last week and we probably had one-and-a-half good performances, but nevertheless, as a manager, you’ve suffered two defeats.

"So, I was really wanting my team to come back fighting, and I thought that they did today. From minute one, we played some really good stuff.

"The finishing was great, and we could even have rattled in a few more, but it was more the style of the performance. It was a display of substance.

"We did have that moment, where there was a wobble and they scored from the corner, so it wasn’t a perfect performance, but other than that we really asserted ourselves.”

The Sulphurites settled quickly and were rewarded for their bright start with a goal on six minutes.

A nice bit of interplay down the right flank saw Will McGowan reverse a clever pass for the overlapping Lewis Cass to deliver a low cross into the box.

Eastleigh goalkeeper Josh Jeffries managed to get a hand on the ball at full stretch, but could only divert it into the path of Brad Dologhan, who showed his predatory instincts from six yards out.

Town completely bossed the quarter of an hour that followed, and passed their visitors off the park – but without managing to extend their advantage.

McGowan cleared the cross-bar when he ought to have at least hit the target, then Bailey Hobson sent an ambitious header over the top from just inside the penalty area.

Eastleigh’s tactics up until that point had largely involved sending the ball long and pulling Harrogate shirts wherever possible, but the first time they actually managed to string a few passes together led to them pulling level out of nowhere.

Having earned themselves a corner following a slick crossfield move, Josh Lundstram swung the resulting left-wing set-piece into a crowded penalty area where Temitope Eweka took advantage of some statuesque Town defending to nod the ball goalwards for Jordan Cousins to flick home.

Unsurprisingly, conceding such a goal knocked the wind out of the hosts’ sails, however they soon rediscovered their rhythm and looked to have retaken the lead in the 34th minute when Sam Dreyer rose at the far post to power home a header from Morgan Williams’ corner.

But, having allowed Eastleigh to push, pull and niggle their way through the opening half an hour, referee Matthew Scholes saw fit to disallow that ‘goal’ following a coming together.

Three minutes later, Ethan Bristow’s fine, lofted pass down the left-hand channel released Dologhan in behind, though he got too much on his attempted lob over the onrushing Jeffries.

But, Town were not to be denied and Dologhan bagged his second of the afternoon six minutes before the interval.

Grant Horton got his head to Williams’ free-kick delivery and as the ball bounced in front of Jeffries, Harrogate’s centre-forward nipped in ahead of him and Harry Sidwell, lifted the ball over the stranded goalkeeper and rolled into an empty net.

Still Simon Weaver’s men pressed forwards, and there was still time before the break for Josh Hmami to draw a good save from Jeffries with a curling shot from the left-hand edge of the box.

The early stages of the second period were more even as the visitors opted to try and play a bit more football, thus preventing Town from dominating possession as they had done for most of the first half.

The Sulphurites never really looked to be in any trouble, however, and with an hour gone, they found the net again.

McGowan swung over an inviting free-kick from the right and the imperious Dreyer climbed highest at the far post, nodding back across the face of goal for Hmami to apply a finishing touch from a yard out.

Referee Scholes initially seemed happy to give the ‘goal’, however his assistant then intervened and signalled that he had somehow spotted one of the home players in an offside position.

Less than two minutes later, Dologhan nicked the ball on halfway and McGowan sent Hmami scampering away in a foot-race with Eastleigh’s last man.

But, having engineered room for a strike at goal, the ex-Halifax attacker slid his finish narrowly wide of the mark.

McGowan then drilled an effort past the post from 20 yards out, before Harrogate benefited from a huge slice of luck at the other end of the field.

Goalkeeper Luke Hutchinson completely sliced his kick as he attempted to clear the ball, but fortunately for him, there was no Eastleigh player close enough to react and take advantage of a gaping net.

The contest was still very much in the balance at 2-1, though Town captain Hobson took it upon himself to wrap things up on 79 minutes.

After the hosts opted against sending a free-kick into the box, it was worked short for the former Chesterfield midfielder to let fly with a low strike, which skidded beyond the despairing dive of Jeffries from 25 yards.

The icing was then well and truly put on the cake in the last minute of the regulation 90 when substitute George Thomson took aim from similar range and unleashed a sensational swerving effort that flew into the top corner.

Saturday’s victory lifts Harrogate one place to fourth in the National League standings where they sit on a total of 19 points from 10 matches.