Scunthorpe United 0 Harrogate Town 2: 'Slick' football is 'so pleasing' for Sulphurites boss Simon Weaver
“So pleasing” was Simon Weaver’s reaction to seeing his Harrogate Town players serve up some “slick” football on their way to a 2-0 victory at Scunthorpe United.
The Sulphurites started Saturday’s National League clash brightly and moved the ball around neatly in the opening stages, eventually taking a deserved lead through Will McGowan’s delightful 14th-minute effort.
Although the hosts came back into the game, Shawn McCoulsky then doubled the away advantage early in the second period to put Town in full control.
And Weaver praised his troops for reproducing the football that they have produced on the training ground when it really mattered at Glanford Park.
“It was really pleasing, because it’s one thing seeing them working hard in training and saying ‘now go and do it in a game’, and the lads being confident enough to do that,” he told BBC Radio York.
“It’s been encouraging me, what I have seen in training, but it is another thing doing it in front of 4,000 fans who are baying for blood.
“But, I thought that the players kept their cool, and it is so pleasing because they played with enjoyment.
“We tried to silence the home crowd early on by being composed and really calm on the ball, and I thought we looked slick on the counter-attack.
“We created a number of chances, but you need to stick one in, and we eventually did, thankfully. It was a great opening goal from Will.”
Town took the lead after playing out from the back and advancing down their right before moving the ball infield towards McGowan.
The former Gateshead attacker drove towards the edge of the box and into space, then curled a left-footed strike beyond Louis Jones from 23 yards out.
McCoulsky made it 2-0 five minutes after the resumption after latching onto Ethan Bristow’s ball down the left-hand touchline and forcing a mistake out of Iron defender Will Evans.
Presented with a clear run on goal, the Town number nine rounded Jones, then showed a cool head as he skipped past the covering Branden Horton and slotted his finish into the empty net.
“It was a superb goal,” Weaver added. “It was a really fantastic bit of composure, the way he slotted it home.”
Saturday’s win lifts Town up to second place in the National League standings, where they sit on 13 points from their first six matches of 2026/27.