Simon Weaver says Harrogate Town must learn how to put teams 'to the sword' following Tranmere Rovers loss

Harrogate Town defender Matty Foulds missed a big chance to break the deadlock early in the second half of Friday night's League Two defeat to Tranmere Rovers. Pictures: Matt Kirkham

Fresh off the back of three consecutive wins, the Sulphurites served up another decent footballing display at Wetherby Road, dominating possession in the first half without managing to capitalise.

Tranmere came into the game after the interval and showed their ruthless edge as they took a 2-0 lead, while Town continued to threaten at the other end but spurned three clear goal-scoring opportunities.

"We were dominant and I’m proud of that, I’m proud of the style of play, we looked slick,” Weaver reflected. “But, we have to learn how to put teams to bed, put them to the sword when we are so on top.

Dean Cornelius forced a fine save out of Tranmere Rovers goalkeeper Luke McGee shortly before half-time.

"It’s a tough one. You’ve seen it so many times up and down the leagues, when a side is so dominant, they’ve got to score to be able to keep moving forwards in such dominant fashion.

"We had plenty of chances, it was just one of those nights. We were banging on the door without scoring and as soon as they scored, we had the look of a team that was a bit deflated because obviously we hadn’t taken advantage earlier on.

"They took encouragement from still being in the game and their confidence rose from that. Goals change games I’m afraid and we still weren’t able to take the chances that we created straight after conceding. After the second goal, the game was gone.”

Friday’s result sees Harrogate slip three places to 15th in the League Two standings.