Maidenhead United 1 Harrogate Town 1: Will Smith not happy with a point on the road

Harrogate Town came away from their National League trip to Maidenhead United with a share of the spoils, but Will Smith views Saturday's 1-1 draw as two points dropped.

Simon Weaver's men began brightly and then finished strongly against a team who started the weekend in the play-off places, creating a number of good chances along the way.

Smith, however, feels that Town were a long way from their best in a fixture that they "should be winning."

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"It's not a good result for us, no," the ex-Barnsley defender reflected.

"I think we should definitely be beating them with the class we've got but we've only played well for half of the first half. The rest of it wasn't good enough - from all of us.

"Putting the ball in the back of the net is the main thing. Second half, we've got to put our chances away and overall today wasn't good enough from us as a team.

"We've got to be doing better first half and second half and put it all together and make it a full team performance for 90 minutes.

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"We were lacking energy all over. We should be running them into the ground from the first minute. All of us, as a team.

"We should be winning these games."

Town's previous National League away trip saw them concede four goals, albeit having been reduced to 10 men when 2-1 up against Torquay United.

And although not satisfied with Saturday's performance at Maidenhead, Smith did concede that there was a marked improvement from a defensive point of view.

"We showed a lot more character today, but we've got to be able to do it for 90 minutes and then we'll get the results that we need," he added.

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"Second half, we were miles better as a defensive unit and there are a few positives, but if we want to take it to the next level we've got to be there for 90 minutes and try and make sure that they don't have any chances.

"We should be gelling together now as a team and a back-four unit, and it is getting there, but we have to cut out these little mistakes because they're costing us games."

Town made a very bright start at York Road, Alex Bradley forcing Taye Ashby-Hammond into an early save before seeing a strike come back off an upright.

And then, with just nine minutes on the clock, Bradley lofted a right-wing free-kick to the back post for Sam Jones to head in from close range.

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Weaver's men were good value for that lead but were pegged back in the 22nd minute when Shamir Fenelon picked out the top corner of James Belshaw's net with a stunning long-range effort.

That goal out of nothing changed the momentum of the game and Belshaw was then required to make a fine stop to keep out a Ryan Upward strike.

Brendan Kiernan tested Ashby-Hammond shortly after half-time before substitute Jack Diamond delivered an inviting cross that Ryan Fallowfield just failed to get on the end of.

Another replacement, Mark Beck, looked to have won the game for Town in the 84th minute when his downward header from a Kiernan cross seemed destined for the back of the net, only for Alan Massey to make a last-ditch goal-line clearance.

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Then, just two minutes from time, Kiernan burst through on goal but was twice denied by some excellent goalkeeping from the impressive Ashby-Hammond.

A point keeps Town 18th in the National League standings ahead of Tuesday's local derby clash with high-flying Halifax.