What Simon Weaver said to his Harrogate Town players at half-time to inspire victory over Mansfield Town

Harrogate Town match-winner Aaron Martin shoots at the Mansfield goal. Pictures: Matt Kirkham

The Sulphurites chief was not impressed with what he saw during the opening 45 minutes of Tuesday night's League Two clash, with his players second-best to the visiting Stags all over the field.

Weaver stopped short of giving his players the hairdryer treatment, but admitted that he didn't pull any punches in getting his point across at the interval.

And, whatever was said certainly seemed to have the desired effect, with Aaron Martin volleying home what proved to the game's only goal just 10 seconds after the re-start.

Town chief Simon Weaver was not pleased by what he saw during the first 45 minutes of Tuesday's League Two showdown with the Stags.

"I wasn't happy with the first-half performance, but the players weren't happy with themselves," Weaver revealed.

"We came in and we were all a bit flat from the performance. We were nowhere near it. Everyone had to give themselves a shake. There were a few brutal home truths without me ranting and raving.

"We had a frank chat at half-time. It wasn't a screaming match but it was 'come on, we are better than this at both sides of the game'.

"I didn't have to raise my voice once it was just. a case of 'what are we doing here? We can't play at it. We can't turn up when we want. We can't get away with turning up and producing a flat performance' - which is what it was in the first-half.

"They're a good honest group and you can address them honestly and there's no dissent from that because they all understood that we needed to do more. We are fighting and scrapping for every point.

"We had to earn the right to play. We had to start being a bit more aggressive, physically and not being second best, which at times we were. But, we really did respond well, and that is what I wanted from what we said at half-time - a reaction."

Match-winner Martin was one of those players who had been on the receiving at half-time and Weaver was particularly pleased with his centre-forward's response.

"It was great technique from him to volley home," the Harrogate boss said of the decisive goal.

"I'm really pleased for him because it was a sure-fire way to get back in the good books after what I said to him at half-time.

"I think he deserved that for his reaction."

Victory lifts Town two places and up to 13th in the League Two standings ahead of Saturday's home showdown with Grimsby.