Harrogate Town opinion: Mansfield Town performance offers encouragement after an away-day to forget

Saturday’s three-goal defeat at Stevenage completely demoralised me.

None of the goals conceded came from what could be described as close-range opportunities but were scored from the home team’s only three shots on target. Thus, questions were rightfully asked of Mark Oxley’s goalkeeping, although individual errors and a lack of chasing back were also to blame.

To add insult to injury, we barely looked like scoring with only a miserly two efforts on target ourselves. By rights it should have been a dull, goalless stalemate.

I’d venture that if you’re going to play three centre-backs and two holding midfielders, the least you can do is not to concede three. Otherwise, what’s the point? Why set up to invite pressure if you can’t keep a clean sheet? You might as well attack and be damned.

So it is that we’re heading towards the Wetherby Road lights on a Tuesday night, my daughter and I, making our score predictions. She’s keeping the faith, I think we’ll get beat.

I usually look forward to Tuesday night home matches, but this time I’m just that little bit more apprehensive.

Mansfield, our opponents, have won 11 of their last 12 matches, scoring two or more goals in all but one of them, and are on a club-record winning streak of eight straight games. By contrast, we have won three in 14.

If I can find a small ray of hope, it’s the fact that Town are on a run of four straight wins over the Stags. Something has to give.

Upon seeing our starting line-up, I concluded that Simon Weaver must have been having exactly the same thoughts as me. The three-man central defence and two holding midfielders with wing-backs approach has been ditched in favour of an offensive 4-4-2 formation.

Offensive in that we have three attack-minded midfielders on the pitch and three young loanees with a bit of pace in from the start. If you look back at the players that have historically got us to where we are today, only George Thomson and Josh Falkingham are named in Weaver’s XI.

Although the match takes until the second half to truly come alive, it’s thoroughly compelling throughout. Town are certainly up for the fight, with concentration and energy levels high. I find myself wondering how Mansfield have racked up eight wins on the trot, they’re nothing special.

Harrogate emerge dominant after half-time, but you sense they won’t be able to keep such energy levels up. So it transpires, as Mansfield exert a long spell of pressure at the changing-room end of the ground.

I think it’s important to state at this point that I can’t see a great lot as my vision is blurred on anything past the half-way line, and I realise with horror that my eyesight must be starting to go under the floodlights.

Last time this happened was at the Forest Green match before Christmas. That night it was almost a blessing in disguise, and I brushed it off as me feeling a little bit under the weather.

A blue-shirted player smashes the loose ball into the goal at the far end, the crowd erupts and players’ arms shoot up into the air. Here we go again.

Except, play inexplicably continues, Town break towards us at speed and nearly hit the net in front of us. “What happened there?” I ask in complete bewilderment.

In fairness, both my daughter and my friend stood next to me have no clue either. We all thought we’d just witnessed a goal at the other end. Maybe my eyes are no worse than anyone else’s after all.

Only after do we find out that the Mansfield player, with the whole goal to aim at from barely six yards out, smashed it straight at the heroic Leon Legge standing invisible, to us, on the goal-line.

Just as we begin to settle for a backs-to-the-wall finish, it’s Town who find the energy and finish as the team looking the most likely, Luke Armstrong agonisingly hitting the bar in a scramble in front of us. We all think it’s going in. It doesn’t.

Then, right at the death, Alex Pattison comes close. I’d have loved to snatch a win late on, but a point each is about right.

There’s a lovely moment at the end when Town fans spontaneously chant “Diarra” over and over in acknowledgment of the young Huddersfield loanee’s all-action display in midfield.

He possesses the uncanny ability to glide past players like they aren’t there and combines that with a fearsome work-rate. Once he adds a finishing touch to his surging runs, we’ll be looking at some player.

Observing all of this, Simon Weaver trots over to our reluctant hero as he’s heading towards the dressing rooms, telling him to go and enjoy his moment in front of the fans in the Kop.

He turns, walks towards us and, almost sheepishly, acknowledges the applause.

So there you have it. I told you something would have to give, although I must admit I didn’t see a goalless draw coming. Dull it most certainly wasn’t though and it sets us up very nicely for the big one against Bradford City on Saturday.