Harrogate Town boss Simon Weaver takes issue with both of Crewe Alexandra's goals after narrow loss
Simon Weaver took issue for differing reasons with both of the goals that Harrogate Town conceded during Monday night’s 2-1 home defeat to Crewe Alexandra.
For once, the Sulphurites failed to deliver in front of live television cameras, and their recent three-game winning run was ended by a late deflected strike after Jack Muldoon had broken the deadlock early on.
The Wetherby Road outfit boast a fine record in matches chosen for broadcast, having enjoyed memorable victories over the likes of Wrexham, Doncaster and Bradford in the not-too-distant past.
But, despite getting off to a flying start courtesy of veteran forward Jack Muldoon’s fifth-minute header, Town came unstuck on this occasion.
And boss Weaver was not happy with what happened in the build-up to both of the Railwaymen’s goals.
The Sulphurites chief credited the Alex for a "clever" and "well-executed" corner routine, which led to them levelling matters on 29 minutes, however he was adamant that the match officials missed some cynical “blocking” that prevented his defenders from being able to close down goal-scorer Reece Hutchinson.
And, he was even more disappointed to see his players gift match-winner Max Sanders the freedom of Harrogate to drive a considerable distance unopposed before curling the game’s decisive strike beyond James Belshaw via the top of Anthony O’Connor’s head.
“Unfortunately, we have parted like the Red Sea for the winning goal,” Weaver said.
"We've not had the required intensity for one minute and that is what has cost us.
“It’s one blip, where we have just not come out and closed the ball down quickly enough. It has cost us on the night, and that’s the level we are playing at now, so we have to learn from that.
“We had a little spell in the second half, but you don’t deserve to win the game when you concede that really poor second goal.
“And it’s disappointing because it would have been a decent point against a good Crewe side."
Assessing his side's overall display, Weaver added: "It was a tight game.
"Having gone one up after scoring a great goal, we were in a good position. We were quite happy to stay solid and try to catch Crewe on the counter-attack, because we have lots of pace, but we lost a little bit of control.
"The game, from our perspective, became a little bit fractious and we dropped a bit deep. They weren't causing us real problems, but we didn't add to the score-line and conceded from a well-executed corner from them.
"Second half, they started off on the front foot. It swung in their favour, and then our favour, but they changed their shape to counteract what we were doing and credit to them. But, it's a really poor goal to concede."