Simon Weaver delighted by Harrogate Town's rediscovered defensive resolve

That was the opinion of manager Simon Weaver who was delighted by his side’s defensive resolve as the Sulphurites ended a four-match losing streak in Devon.

Harrogate took the lead through Brendan Kiernan in the first half but Exeter hit back immediately after the second-half restart through Jake Taylor.

Town won the game through Jack Muldoon with 15 minutes remaining but it was the way that Harrogate defended that pleased Weaver most.

“I thought the lads acquitted themselves superbly at the back and defended well, apart from that opening minute after half time,” he said.

“It could have been a shock to the system, it certainly was for us on the sideline but the lads at the back responded very well. They stood up to the task and came through.

“It could have been a sink or swim moment, and we swam.

“The whole team came through and showed terrific character, we were really compact and stopped the crosses coming in.

“Their wide-men are their danger players and they were both substituted quite early on which I thought was symptomatic of the performance from the players out there.”

Since conceding five goals against Scunthorpe United earlier this month, Harrogate have let in just one goal in each of their last three games.

Weaver hailed Muldoon’s match-winning goal as Town’s top-scorer produced a fine curling effort into the far corner to secure a welcome win.

Weaver added: “It was an absolutely magnificent finish. He has put in such a shift in the 4-3-3 for us.

“He has worked up and down defensively. Conceding five, I think we can be forgiven for making it more compact and harder to beat.

“It certainly worked. In the previous two games I think we have been unlucky to come away with nothing.

“Tonight, it is probably the hardest fixture we have played on paper, especially with the run they have been in but we came and stood up to the task.

“To come away with the three points will make it a fantastic journey home.”

Weaver has firm belief in his side that if they can match any team for hunger in this division, then they will win more games than they lose.

“We don’t go silly with the expectations, we just try and do a bit better on Saturday,” he said.

“It was good tonight, really good. We have to be that intense. We probably haven’t got the pedigree of any other team at our level but we have got the hunger.

“If we are hungrier than the opposition then we know we have a good chance to overcome them. We are not silly, we expect there to be ups and downs this season.”