Harrogate Town's Kayne Ramsay backed to 'come back stronger' from Bradford City nightmare

The 21-year-old needlessly gave away a penalty with a rash early challenge, then switched off in the build-up to the visitors’ second-half winner as the struggling Sulphurites slumped to a seventh loss in eight matches.

A summer signing from Premier League Southampton, Ramsay has been one of Town’s better performances in recent weeks, though he never really seemed to recover from his first rush-of-blood moment in Saturday’s Yorkshire derby.

With 14 minutes on the clock, Bantams winger Harry Chapman was adjudged to have kept the ball in play wide on the City left and then drove past Harrogate’s right-back and into the penalty area. It was at that point that Ramsay lunged into a challenge he had no hope of winning, leaving referee Peter Wright with no option but to point to the spot.

Bradford top-scorer Andy Cook made no mistake from 12 yards and although Jaheim Headley’s unstoppable strike from the edge of the area just after half-time saw Town deservedly pull level, another Ramsay error on 73 minutes led to City re-taking the lead.

The Bantams launched a swift counter-attack from inside their own half with Lee Angol leading the charge into home territory. It was then that Ramsay appeared to lose his bearings, lose Tyreik Wright and hesitate for a split second, allowing Bradford’s left-winger to run in behind him and lift an accomplished finish over the advancing Pete Jameson.

"He just didn’t need to try and make that tackle and he’ll have to learn from it,” Weaver said following his team’s 2-1 loss at Wetherby Road.

"One thing you can’t afford to do is give a penalty away because it’s a free shot at goal.

"He is a good defender one-versus-one. We see that every day in training. He’s played well the last four games, but today wasn’t his day because two big moments haven’t gone his way.

"He’s obviously disappointed with his decision-making in both of those moments, but you’ve got to feel that pain. No matter what I say, I can put my arm around his shoulder, but this is different to Southampton Under-23s, there is a crowd there, there is disappointment from our fans and jubilation from the Bradford fans behind the goal. This is real.

"But, he will come back stronger. He’s a good athlete, a good lad who is buying into this club."

Analysing what went wrong for Bradford’s winner, Weaver continued: “Their lad picks it up in space in a counter-attacking situation that we have worked on in training before.

"When there is no pressure on the ball, we have to retreat, which we did, and turn it into a five-versus-three situation, which we did. The only place they could actually have punctured us there was inside Kayne for that run from outside to in, and the gap was too big.

"We didn’t close the width of that gap and it’s a shame because I think that nine times out of 10, Kayne does that. But, the gap wasn’t closed quickly enough meaning that they didn’t have to play the pass outside of him, which would have given them a more acute angle for a strike at goal.

"We made it easier than we should have done. It was a great finish, but the other players got around the ball quickly enough and we shouldn’t be conceding a goal like that.”

Despite being frustrated by the mistakes which cost his side a much-needed result against the Bantams, Weaver was quick to make the point that he has been pleased with Ramsay’s overall contribution since he joined Town.

The Harrogate boss added: "Kayne has banked four good performances. I told him straight after Stevenage ‘that’s four good games, well done’.

"We’ve had several cases where, maybe it's a case of still settling in, or confidence, some of the lads who have come in have had one good game, then they’ve not been at their best in the next one. Kayne has produced four really good performances back-to-back.

“Now if he goes on and makes it one game where it's not gone his way out of 10 matches, then he’ll be doing much better than most 21-year-olds who have just started playing first-team football on a regular basis.

"But, it’s down to how well he learns, and that is real life. It’s also about how we learn about this group and how we instill what we’re about as a team into them.”

Saturday’s defeat sees Town drop one place to 20th in the League Two standings, where they now find themselves just two points above the relegation zone.