Harrogate Town’s failure to convert ‘glorious’ chances cost them a result against Salford City

The Sulphurites would have been good value for a point against the high-flying Ammies, but ended up empty-handed after Matty Lund headed home an Elliot Watt free-kick in stoppage-time.

Town, who have now lost five on the bounce, could however have been a couple of goals to the good by that point, had they been more ruthless in the final third.

Their first clear opening of the night arrived on eight minutes, Alex Pattison racing onto Luke Armstrong’s flick, but taking too long to pull the trigger, eventually forcing himself wide before rolling a tame effort straight at Tom King.

Pattison then stole possession in midfield and slid Josh Coley clean through on goal, however despite having plenty of time to find a finish, he failed to beat King one-on-one.

Debutant Sam Folarin also engineered himself a good chance in the second half when he showcased his searing pace in outstripping the Salford defence, firing into the side-netting with King again exposed.

But, it was those two first-half misses which Weaver felt really cost his side.

“We created a couple of simple chances that we missed and we’re guilty of that, you’ve got to take your chances when you’re on top,” he told the Harrogate Advertiser. "I still thought that we created in the second half, but those are glorious moments. We’ll rue them more than the goal we conceded.

"We all thought that Josh Coley was going to score. He’ll be disappointed with that, there’s no getting away from it.

"It was a fantastic opportunity to open his account and score the goal and maybe set us on our way to victory.

"And Patto delayed, and delayed, and delayed in the box and he’ll be frustrated that he didn’t shoot earlier, but at times, both of them tore shreds out of Salford, and Sam – but we have to convert those chances and still create even more.”

Tuesday’s result means that Town have now failed to take a single point from their last four League Two outings and keeps them 19th in the table, just three points above the drop zone.

Their manager was far from downbeat after the full-time whistle.

“It’s tough to take, however I’d rather lose in this manner than 4-0 like we did to Newport in our last home outing,” Weaver reasoned. “We are disappointed because this game is about results and we had the chances to win the match, but for us, it’s always about the journey and how you get there.

“I feel that the performance was an upgrade. We made a huge stride forwards tonight. Salford knew that they were in a battle and that it could have gone either way.

"I think that we deserved a point. I thought we were on top in the second half and really emerging, looking strong.

"I think we have got the quality in the squad now and look a far different team from that last home game, a much better outfit. I’m frustrated to lose, obviously, but I’ll have a better night’s sleep knowing that we are emerging as a force and gelling as a team having probably rediscovered ourselves tonight.”

On the last-gasp goal which saw Lund nod in Elliot Watt’s right-wing free-kick and deny his team a share of the spoils, Weaver added: “It’s a great free-kick put into a dangerous area where it is all about who lands there first and, unfortunately for us, it was their player, so we have to do better.

"It’s the arrangement of the eight players who we have got in a line, and you just make sure that your man, the player nearest to you, doesn’t score. It’s not that technical, really.

"It’s not good enough, but, we’ll rue our missed chances more than the goal we conceded.”