James Belshaw backs 'hunch' to save penalty and earn Harrogate Town a 'pleasing' point at Fleetwood Town

The 34-year-old kept out Phoenix Patterson’s 91st-minute spot-kick to ensure that the Sulphurites left Highbury Stadium with a share of the spoils, thus ending a sequence of five consecutive League Two losses.

And while the Town skipper revealed that he always does his homework on opposition penalty-takers, he said that with nothing to go on in terms of footage of Patterson’s previous efforts from 12 yards, he simply had to follow his gut.

“I do research, I look at penalties that players have taken,” Belshaw explained. “I look with the analyst at the most likely taker and then probably options two and three.

“You kind of have an idea of where players are going to go, but if a player's not taken a penalty in the last couple of months, it's kind of irrelevant really.

“Kian [Harratt] had the ball and the lad [Patterson] took it off him and as soon as you take the ball off someone who's got it you have to go and score really.

“But look, I had no research, I had a hunch that he'd go that way and fortunately I saved it. It’s highly unlikely, I'm going to get the feeling of scoring a goal, so as a goalkeeper, saving a penalty is sort of the next best thing.

“And when it contributes to a point like that, a big point it's a big psychological boost for the team, it's a big sort of pat on the back for the way we played.”

Sunday’s point was the first that Town have managed to put on the board since they beat Gillingham in late November, and Belshaw was quick to acknowledge that getting a positive result at long last was a significant positive.

“It’s really pleasing,” he added. “I think that when you come into a game on a run like we've been on, it's important that you stop the run - and we did that today.

“Going a goal behind so early on could have been a real confidence-killer, especially the way that we've been playing the last few weeks where some lads have looked a bit short on confidence and things haven't quite been clicking for us.

“But, we stood to task and within six minutes we're level, and I think what's most pleasing is that we came out in the second half and we actually imposed our style of football upon Fleetwood.

“I think that in the last few games, bar probably periods against Grimsby, I don't think we've been able to do that.

“I think we've succumbed to playing second fiddling games and trying not to lose and that's not the game plan that the gaffer has set out.”