Hartlepool United 0 Harrogate Town 1: Bailey Hobson strikes again to earn Sulphurites ‘ugly win’

The 24-year-old midfielder netted the only goal of Tuesday night’s National League encounter shortly after half-time with the aid of a significant deflection.

The scruffy nature of that strike was very much in keeping with the way the game played out on a wet evening at Victoria Park, but Town boss Simon Weaver said he was very happy to see his players show that they are capable of winning in different ways following on from Saturday’s free-flowing display against Eastleigh.

“It could be described as an ugly win, but we are going to have to win in different ways if we want to stay up near top of the table,” Weaver told BBC Radio York.

“We showed great resolve, stuck to the task and got a clean sheet.

“We weren’t anywhere near as good on the ball as we were on Saturday, but sometimes you have to give the opposition credit because they came at us with a different shape and disrupted us. They offered a different challenge and fortunately we have passed that challenge.

“They were certainly up for it, the Hartlepool players. We didn’t have any time on the ball and it was a bit of a fight, but we can’t just claim the points when we excel on the ball. We have to show different qualities, and we did that tonight.”

It was Hartlepool who created the best chances of the first half and Town goalkeeper Luke Hutchinson was forced to make an important stop to thwart Charlie Thornton after he was played through on goal by Will Harris.

Harris then drilled an effort over the cross-bar from inside the Harrogate box, before Jordan Hugill dragged a shot across the face of goal and wide when he should have squared the ball to a couple of unmarked team-mates.

Striker Brad Dolaghan did force a save out of Pools debutant Max Thompson at the other end, though the Sulphurites struggled to find any real fluency in attack during the opening period.

Nevertheless, they still managed to engineer a decisive moment eight minutes after the resumption.

Morgan Williams showed good anticipation to nip in and dispossess Terry Bondo inside the Pools half before driving with the ball through midfield.

Having reached the edge of the box, he slipped a pass inside for Will McGowan, who teed up Hobson for a right-footed effort that took a big deflection off the sliding Nathan Sheron on its way past Thompson.

Town had to do plenty of defending during the remainder of the match, but although the home side did manage to exert periods of pressure, they were unable to really open their visitors up.

Victory lifts Harrogate up to second place in the National League standings, where they now sit on a total of 22 points from 11 games.