Harrogate Town opinion: Efforts during tough month suggest corner has been turned

Simon Power is one of a number of recent signings who have hit the ground running at Harrogate Town. Pictures: Matt Kirkham

Harrogate Town were always going to be up against it with the run of fixtures they were handed in January.

I believe that it is very likely that Cambridge United, Exeter City, Salford City, Tranmere Rovers and Newport County will all end up finishing in League Two’s top seven come the end of the season.

So, for Simon Weaver’s men to emerge from those five games with five points to their name represents a particularly decent effort.

January signing Josh March has scored twice in his last two Town appearances.

There is plenty more to be positive about, in addition to some good results.

Digging in with just 10 men to keep a clean-sheet and grind out a valuable point at home to Exeter showed that this group still has plenty of character and resolve.

The nature of their last-gasp leveller at Salford and the fact that it broke their Ammies hoodoo clearly gave both Town’s players and management team a tangible boost.

Perhaps best of all, Saturday saw Harrogate outplay a Newport team who, although currently struggling for form, have led the division for a good chunk of 2020/21.

And, in my opinion, they could easily have had even more to show for their efforts over the past four weeks.

Having taken the lead at Cambridge, I think that if Lloyd Kerry avoids a red card and stays on the pitch then the Sulphurites probably go on and get a draw there.

Also, had referee Andy Haines and his assistant not conspired to gift Tranmere a penalty that should never have been with Town 1-0 up and in the ascendancy, then I fancy Weaver’s men to have come away from Prenton Park with at least a share of the spoils.

All that said, three dismissals and some awful defending at set-pieces have proved costly and these are factors which Town can control, and areas where they must improve.

Taking ifs and buts out of the equation, something you can say for certain is that something of a corner has been turned. One swallow does not make a summer, but their win over Newport suggests that Harrogate now have a team capable of taking the game to opposition teams at Wetherby Road.

After three consecutive blanks on home turf, during which they barely tested any of the trio of visiting goalkeepers, Town delivered an exciting front-foot performance against the Exiles.

The new wing pairing of Josh McPake and Simon Power were excellent, as was Josh March up front, and the better displays we’ve been seeing in recent weeks are a result of the strength in depth that Weaver now boasts.

I have seen fans discussing on social media what Town’s best XI now looks like and who should start against Crawley this weekend.

Weaver undoubtedly has some difficult decisions to make, but he will be grateful of the options he now has at his disposal with the club scheduled to play Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday for five consecutive weeks. That’s 11 matches in the space of just 36 days.

Rotation is going to be essential during this period, but for probably the first time since I began covering the club, there is now genuine competition in every single position - or at least there will be once full-backs Ryan Fallowfield and Dan Jones are fully fit and available for selection once again.

Town will not survive such a gruelling schedule sending out more or less the same XI game after game, but this time around they don’t have to.

And credit must go to Weaver for his work in the transfer market. There are never any guarantees when it comes to new signings, but the early signs suggest that the Harrogate chief has brought in some real quality.