Harrogate Town v Notts County: Sulphurites return to action following two-week break

The Sulphurites, who saw last weekend’s fixture at Sutton United postponed, are back on home soil where they will entertain promotion-chasing Notts County.

Simon Weaver’s men were already down in South London when their clash with U’s was called off after a heavy deluge of rain left the Gander Green Lane pitch waterlogged.

Thus, Town’s players have not kicked a ball in anger since they were thrashed 5-1 by League One leaders Bolton Wanderers in the second round of the FA Cup on December 2.

That break, and a chance to reset, may not have come at the worst time, given the fact that they had failed to win any of their previous five matches in all competitions.

Harrogate are also without a victory at Wetherby Road in seven attempts, a run of form which stretches all the way back to September 23 when they beat Salford City by a 3-2 scoreline.

The last time they came out on top anywhere was a 1-0 success at Walsall just over a month ago, but, that said, they have delivered two extremely positive performances in each of their previous two home outings.

The Sulphurites fought back from 2-0 down to take a point off second-placed Wrexham on November 28, following on from their 1-1 draw with Swindon. Both games saw Weaver’s troops create more than enough chances to have come away with all three points.

This weekend’s visitors arrive in North Yorkshire sixth in the League Two standings after last weekend’s 2-1 home reverse at the hands of Walsall.

That loss was Notts’ fourth in six league matches and leaves them with an overall record of 11 wins, three draws and seven defeats from the 21 fixtures they have completed since achieving promotion from the National League via the play-offs at the end of 2022/23.

It was indeed in a National League play-off final that the most notable previous clash between Town and County took place, Harrogate triumphing 3-1 behind closed doors at Wembley in August 2020 to secure an historic promotion to the Football League.

This season’s joint-leading goal-scorer George Thomson broke the deadlock in that game, though the two other players to hit the back of the Magpies’ net that famous day – Connor Hall and Jack Diamond – are no longer with the club.

Since that encounter, the teams have met only once, the Sulphurites winning 1-0 at Meadow Lane courtesy of a Will Smith header in an FA Trophy semi-final which was postponed from the 2019/20 campaign after that season was brought to a premature conclusion due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The only previous meeting between the clubs at Wetherby Road came during the early weeks of 2019/20, County capitalising on Smith’s first-half red card to bag themselves a 2-0 triumph.

This Saturday’s match gets underway at the EnviroVent Stadium at 3pm.