Harrogate Town inspired to comeback win over Tranmere Rovers by half-time rollicking

The Sulphurites would eventually come from behind to secure their place in the last 16 of the EFL Trophy courtesy of a 2-1 win sealed by goals from Jack Muldoon and Alex Pattison.

But the chances of them progressing to the next round looked slim at the interval, with the Wetherby Road outfit one down and thoroughly second best to a Rovers side featuring nine changes from their previous League Two outing.

In truth, Town were probably fortunate to only be trailing by one, with what was virtually Micky Mellon's second-string causing them all sorts of problems.

Thus, Harrogate chief Simon Weaver was forced to deliver a few home truths inside the away changing room.

"We had to be very honest at half-time," he revealed. "We looked a soft touch, we were nowhere near where we needed to be in terms of our levels, our passing, even the intensity.

"We looked a bit sloppy, to be honest, so we got into them at half-time. We wanted a reaction and they were superb.

"I just thought that we woke up. We have to play with energy, we can't lose that. We were irate at half-time. I'd seen the coverage of the goal and we were short in terms of recovery runs and that was a bit of a letdown, so we let the players know.

"They [Town's defenders] were frozen to the spot a couple of times, but that seems a distant memory now because the second half was great.

"We don't just want to be nice on the eye but no cutting edge, while also lacking honesty. We don't want to see that, but we're delighted we got a reaction."

Trailing to Nicky Maynard's 11th-minute opener, Town got back on terms early in the second period when Josh Falkingham's clever pass in behind freed up substitute Jack Muldoon to slot past Joe Murphy at his near post.

Alex Pattison then fired home the evening's decisive goal, finishing into an empty net after Luke Armstrong had robbed Tom Davies then been denied one-on-one by Murphy.

"I thought the players looked a completely different proposition after the break, they played with real intensity," Weaver added.

"Luke was a little bit isolated in that first period. As a front-three they played closer together in the second half. They had more support from George Thomson and Alex Pattison and we started to look a team again.

"We're not going to stand for any malaise that can set in, disappointment or playing the victim just because it's not gone for us recently. This is about turning it around through hard work.

"We saw a lot of hard work second half and we deserved the win. We were so much more positive."

Town's victory sets up a home meeting with Carlisle United in the round-of-16 stage of the competition. That tie is scheduled to be played at the EnviroVent Stadium on January 4.