Harrogate Town's latest win at Bradford City and the scenes that followed rate among Simon Weaver's 'top five moments' in football

Simon Weaver rates Harrogate Town's 3-1 derby win at Bradford City and the scenes that followed it as right up there with some of his very best in football.
Simon Weaver is all-smiles in front of the away end following Harrogate Town's League Two win at Bradford City. Pictures: Matt KirkhamSimon Weaver is all-smiles in front of the away end following Harrogate Town's League Two win at Bradford City. Pictures: Matt Kirkham
Simon Weaver is all-smiles in front of the away end following Harrogate Town's League Two win at Bradford City. Pictures: Matt Kirkham

Goals from Warren Burrell, Lewis Page and Jack Diamond saw the Sulphurites recover from an early set-back to register a fourth League Two success in as many attempts over their Yorkshire rivals.

The Wetherby Road outfit are no strangers to victory when it comes to these contests and last season's corresponding fixture saw them triumph 1-0 in a behind-closed-doors fixture broadcast live on Sky Sports

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The difference on this occasion was that 14,512 fans were packed into Valley Parade, making for an entirely different atmosphere.

Harrogate Town supporters celebrate taking a 3-1 lead at Valley Parade.Harrogate Town supporters celebrate taking a 3-1 lead at Valley Parade.
Harrogate Town supporters celebrate taking a 3-1 lead at Valley Parade.

And the 704 noisy Town supporters who turned up to take their place in what was a busy away end certainly played their part, smashing Harrogate's record attendance on the road as they shared what was another big night in a period of the club's history which has been packed with memorable moments.

"It's one to savour, definitely. One of the top five moments I've had in this job, in my time in football," Weaver said.

"Last year was good, but because of the ovation from the away support at the end, this will stand out as one of the best moments for me since I've been at the club.

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"All the hairs on the back of my neck - and there's quite a few of them - they were all standing on end. It was just brilliant when we went over to celebrate with the fans after the final whistle.

"I am buzzing, just so pleased for the supporters and for the players because I thought that we deserved to beat them [City] again, just as we did when we played them at home."

The other stand-out moments in Tuesday's contest included four excellent saves from Town goalkeeper Mark Oxley and, of course, the visitors' three goals.

"It was a great delivery from Pagey and Warren showed strength in there to win the header," Weaver said of Harrogate's equaliser, which arrived deep in first-half stoppage-time.

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"He normally stays back for corners, but I said yesterday 'go on then, you go and have a go' and it's worked out for us.

"Pagey's was a fantastic free-kick. Thirs [Paul Thirlwell] said to me at the time that he thought it was too far out, but I fancied him and he's rapped it in the top corner and a moment of quality like that, it's another great moment in a derby win. It doesn't get much better.

"Jack's goal made things a lot more comfortable. It was a wonderful bit of play by Brahima [Diarra] to get him in behind with the assist, a great burst forward which showed Jack's stamina in the 90th minute and a good finish.

"It was a massive moment after not being able to hold on to leads in the last two games because six minutes of stoppage-time went up but we felt like we were going to win the game."

Tuesday's result sees Harrogate leapfrog Bradford in the League Two standings and into 13th position with 41 points from 31 games.