Simon Weaver pleased by Harrogate Town reaction during Mansfield Town stalemate

Tuesday evening saw the Sulphurites bounce back from what was a dreadful day at the office down in Hertfordshire, as they played out a goalless draw with Nigel Clough's promotion-hopefuls.

The Stags, who arrived at Wetherby Road sixth in the table following eight consecutive League Two victories, must have fancied their chances of extending that run into a ninth game given the flaky defensive performance their hosts served up last time out.

But, Harrogate dug deep to come up with the kind of "gritty" display that Weaver was hoping for by way of a reaction, even going on to create enough clear-cut chances to have won the contest.

"It was very important for Paul [Thirlwell] and I that the team put in a passionate display. The players certainly took some flak from Saturday and in my opinion we didn't deserve to get anything out of that game," the Town boss reflected.

"We don't like losing. Nobody comes into any game at Harrogate Town not bothered about getting a positive result for the town and we disappointed a few on Saturday. For that, we felt remorse, we did feel that we hadn't got it right.

"But we put that to bed. I told the lads 'that's forgotten now' because you've come out of a hard game with a lot of credit. Tonight was a return to what got us to this level, which was energy and effort and being in people's faces.

"We could have won it at the end, we had a few opportunities in the game, but on that occasion it just didn't quite fall for Luke [Armstrong]. He's been a bit unfortunate recently.

"But, I thought that he, along with the rest of the players showed tremendous grit and tenacity in very difficult conditions to play in. It was a spirited display and I think the way the fans reacted at the end, they also thought that we played well."

With Town having lost five of their previous six league matches operating in either a 4-3-3 or 3-4-3 formation, Weaver reverted to his tried-and-tested 4-4-2 system for the visit of the Stags.

Midfielder George Thomson was deployed at right-back, with Brahima Diarra, Alex Pattison and Calum Kavanagh all handed starts as Warren Burrell, Lloyd Kerry and Jack Muldoon dropped to the substitutes' bench.

Despite these changes and them having a strong wind at their backs, the hosts struggled to make any kind of an impression as an attacking force during the dullest of opening periods.

But, they were far better after the interval once they stated playing the ball to feet and Kavanagh, Armstrong (twice), Muldoon and Alex Pattison all had opportunities to net what would have been a decisive goal.

"The ball was just running through in the first half," Weaver added.

"It's difficult from the goalkeeper's point of view. He's got an enormous kick on him and he was trying to take the seven iron out of the bag rather than the driver, but with that gale-force wind behind him it was just sailing through.

"We started well after the break but then they put us under pressure from the long throw-in and they played to the conditions. Hewitt launched the long throw at every opportunity but I thought that the back-line was superb tonight.

"Second half, when we played it to feet it was better, it was a better style of play and more productive for us.

"We've not been form if I'm honest, we're looking for some consistency. They're the form team in the league and we could have won it, so hopefully it's the start of a good run for ourselves."

Town certainly looked at their most threatening when the likes of Diarra, Diamond and Pattison were able to get on the ball, with Weaver going on to reveal that his offensive game-plan centered around getting his most powerful runners into areas where they could hurt their visitors.

"We've got the pace across that four in midfield. With Brahima and Jack [Diamond] we had outlets and that was the strategy for tonight, against the form team in the league," he continued.

"We had to win the battles physically but then get it wide to the pace and the individual flair that we've got. We'd have liked to have done that a bit more but you have to earn the right sometimes and value a point.

"People needed refreshing but also we wanted both of the widemen in the team and to have outlets against their diamond shape, which is a narrow shape that they've had a lot of success with.

"We wanted to give them something to think about, and with Brahima and Jack and Alex as well, we have three outlets and people who can run with the ball, drive at people.

"You could feel the excitement in the stands as soon as those three got on the ball and we've got good forwards as well, so it seemed like the logical way to go about things."

Tuesday's point keeps Harrogate 14th in the table ahead of this weekend's home showdown with Yorkshire rivals Bradford City.