Josh March says Harrogate Town are looking to 'kick on' after addressing two major failings

Fresh off the back of an excellent 2-1 home success over Chesterfield, the biggest question mark hanging over the Sulphurites was whether they could finally record back-to-back victories for the first time in 2024/25.

Simon Weaver’s men had failed to follow up a single one of their previous six league and cup triumphs with a win in their very next game, so inconsistent have they been this term.

Thus, when they fell behind at Priestfield in the 51st minute as Timothy Dieng netted from a right-wing corner, Town’s chances of finally backing up one victory with another appeared extremely slim.

And that was not just because they found themselves a goal down in the game.

In the previous 10 matches this season in which Harrogate had conceded the first goal, they had gone on to lose each and every one.

It was about time that run came to an end. And thanks to a close-range strike from Anthony O’Connor and Josh March’s composed one-on-one finish, Town got two monkeys off their back at the same time courtesy of a 2-1 win.

The challenge now, says match-winner March, is to get better at responding to in-game adversity – and stringing results together.

"Once Gillingham’s goal went in, the lads showed great character and I think that’s when we actually kicked on,” the 27-year-old forward said.

"I think that is something that we can definitely improve on as a team, and I think we showed on Saturday that we can do it more often. I think that can give us belief.

"It’s very good to get back-to-back wins, but it’s something we need to improve on. We’ve not been good enough in that regard this season, and hopefully doing it can give us a bit of a boost.

"We go into the FA Cup game this Friday and hopefully get another win, then we go back into the league with confidence."

Having scored just the one goal in his previous 12 appearances and found it a struggle to nail down a regular starting spot this season, March was in need of a "boost” himself, and will also be looking to deliver on a more consistent basis.

"I’ve had a bit of a stop-start season and I have had to be patient at times,” he added. “I’ve just tried to keep my head down in training and train hard, which I feel I have been doing, and thankfully I got my reward on Saturday.

"I’d like to think that this will give me a boost going forward. I feel like I have been quite confident in front of goal, even in training, it’s just about getting those rewards on the pitch now and kicking on.”

March’s match-winning moment came in the 71st minute and was made possible by a defence-splitting pass by strike partner Jack Muldoon.

Despite his lack of form in front of goal, Harrogate’s number 24 appeared to be the coolest man in the stadium, taking his time before calmly slotting the ball beyond the advancing Jake Turner and into the bottom corner.

“As I was running through I just tried to slow myself down, pick a spot, and hit the ball firmly,” March explained. “Luckily, it went in.

"It was a great ball from Mullers, to be fair to him, to pick me out and thankfully we got the three points in the end.

"Sometimes, as a striker, when you’ve got a lot of time to think about it, it can be harder.

"My first thought is to stay composed, see the goalkeeper's positioning or which way he is going to dive and then it’s about picking a spot and making sure that you get a good connection, because if you don’t then you’re always giving them the chance to readjust and save the ball.”