Mark Oxley's 'absolutely outstanding' late save was key to Harrogate Town taking a point off Grimsby Town

The Sulphurites custodian made a trio of important stops during the League Two clash at Blundell Park, but it was the last of those, in stoppage-time, which really caught the eye.

Having already thwarted Niall Maher and Alex Hunt, 32-year-old Oxley kicked out his right leg to divert Ryan Taylor’s close-range header from Josh Emmanuel’s right-wing cross to safety with time almost up.

The former Southend United and Hibernian stopper has only recently won his place between the sticks back from Pete Jameson, though Town are now three games unbeaten since Oxley was reinstated, and haven’t lost any of the six matches in which he has featured this term.

Unsurprisingly, Weaver is liking what he is seeing, though it is not just Harrogate’s number one’s on-field contribution that has earned him praise from his manager.

“It was a great save at the end,” the Sulphurites boss said.

"It was a great cross to the far post and he met it well, did Taylor, but it was an immense save and a great moment for us to keep us in the game and at a 0-0 scoreline.

"It was a huge moment, and I told him [Oxley] that when he came in. It was absolutely outstanding. He hasn’t played for so long and then he has come in and been very, very solid in his understated way.

"He isn’t one for wanting to grab the headlines. You might not see him seeing going up to fans and saying ‘come and celebrate my performance’, but what I do know is that I can completely trust the man on and off the pitch.”

While Town struggled to make any impression on Tuesday’s contest as an attacking force, they were largely excellent in terms of their defensive efforts, with centre-halves Anthony O’Connor and Tom Eastman particularly impressive just in front of goalkeeper Oxley.

"We can be proud of the clean-sheet, but ahead of him [Oxley] – and he’ll be the first to admit – the two centre-halves just bullied their way to a clean-sheet,” Weaver added. "I thought they were absolutely immense.

"There’s been a real confidence growing in terms of that defensive unit and it is helped because we have got really good players playing centre-back now. Even top teams, when they make signings in January, they don’t always settle straight away, but these boys at the heart of our defence are performing really well.

"It’s not about screaming on instructions now, it’s about being able to trust defenders to defend for their lives, go and anticipate properly and read danger, and snuffing good League Two players out of the game.

“It’s a whole new back-four and they can all be proud of their recent efforts. If you look at the performances away from home, we’ve been solid and gritty and it something that we’ve been searching for.”