Harrogate Town must set the bar high if they are to continue punching above their weight in League Two

The 32-year-old striker played a starring role in Saturday’s 6-1 demolition of struggling Scunthorpe United, a result which moved the Sulphurites to within a point of leaders Forest Green Rovers.

One defeat in 13 matches in all competitions this term and a return of 22 points from their opening 11 league outings certainly bodes well for Simon Weaver’s men, enjoying just their second-ever season as a Football League club.

And, while Muldoon concedes that it is far too early to gauge whether Harrogate really are genuine promotion contenders, he believes that there is enough quality within their ranks for them to at least have a good go.

“Since I’ve been here, the last four years, we’ve always been somewhere near the top of the table. I know last season was just about staying in the Football League, but we’ve usually performed at a good, high level,” the former Lincoln City attacker said.

“It’s fantastic to see. We are a bit of an underdog by League Two standards aren’t we, let’s be honest. But, with the lads that we’ve got in our team, some class players, we have got enough quality to run over teams in this division, like Scunthorpe today.

“It’s too early to say if we can keep challenging at the top of the table, but we’ve set our bar high and we’re going to carry on doing that. There’s a lot of confidence running through the team at the minute.

“Like I say, we’ve set the bar now, so come Colchester next Saturday we’re going to have to try do something similar to what we’ve done in this game.”

It was Muldoon himself who opened the scoring against Scunthorpe, nodding in on eight minutes after Ryan Fallowfield’s header bounced back off the underside of the cross-bar.

Muldoon then played Alex Pattison through on goal to slot home number two, before Jack Diamond’s low strike from 20 yards out made it 3-0 on 18 minutes.

Pattison converted Diamond’s right-wing centre for 4-0 after half an hour, Muldoon taking the home tally to five in first-half stoppage time with a clever header from Pattison’s cross.

Harry Davis pulled one back for bottom-of-the-table United in the 79th-minute, though Harrogate’s five-goal cushion was resorted soon afterwards when Simon Power won a penalty and fellow substitute Danilo Orsi converted from spot.

Harrogate Town: Oxley; Fallowfield, Smith, Hall, Burrell; Thomson, Falkingham (Kerry 38), Pattison (Power 57), Diamond; Armstrong, Muldoon (Orsi 57). Unused substitutes: Cracknell, Sheron.

Scunthorpe United: Watson; Millen, Clark, Taft, Thompson; Green (Hackney 80), Wood, Beestin, Hippolyte; Loft (Jarvis 61), Scrimshaw (Hallam 67). Unused substitutes: Collins, O’Malley, Rowe, Pugh.

Referee: T Bramall (Sheffield).