Dootson leaves Town!?

Craig Dootson has left Harrogate Town and has gone on loan to Fleetwood Town the team he joined us from at the end of last season. Fleetwoods 1st choice keeper has recently got injured so looks like hes gone to help his old team out.

Dootson has played in all of our 7 games this season and has looked outstanding saving us on many occasions. I cant believe we have just let him leave like that, from where i am standing he must not have liked the set-up here.

We really need to keep hold of our better players this season and with Dootson leaving , i wonder how that makes the rest of the squad feel. We really need another experienced good keeper in fast, no offence to Myer but we really need experience right now, i couldnt stand another relegation threatened season come on SIMON get it sorted !!!!!!

Good luck to craig though, it is a step up for him and i wish him well. From what ive heard it seems to me he had no intention of leaving  :S

Harrogate Town make the trip to Vauxhall Motors

Harrogate Town make the trip across the Rivacre Park this coming saturday hoping to pick up a win to get their season back on track, after a couple of decent results but without the impressive performances.

Vauxhall are currently sitting 19th in the Blue square Bet North table, so far this season they have won 1, drew 1 and lost 5, so they will be looking to turn their season around when we make the visit and should put up a strong test for Simon Weavers men only losing by the odd goal most of the season.

Last season Harrogate Town enjoyed playing Vauxhall picking up the double over them home and away. Town won the home game at the CNG very comfortably winning 3-0, thanks to a wonder strike from Jon Maloney and goals from Dave McTiernan and Curtis Woodhouse. In the reverse fixture at Rivacre park Town again went away with the three points, winning 2-0 thanks to goals from Peter Knox and Simon Yeo.

Lets hope town can continue recent tradition and record another win over Vauxhall!!!

CMON YOU TOWN!!!

Town lucky to get away with point

Well going into the game Town fans were hoping after the narrow scrappy win against Stalybridge, they could  push on today and give the fans a good performance and show us whats they are really made of. Well that kind of didnt happen, in a game that Hinckley dominated and should have won, Town somehow got a point out of the game.

The game started slowly, with most of the play being a smash up field for the defenders to win in the air, this continued for the first 5 minutes, then slowly but surely Hinckley started to take over, Town were caught out on a few occasions early on, Jacklin was the first culprit being caught out of position my a nice header over his head which set the Hinckley winger away down the wing, luckily for town he was unable to pick anyone out in the box and we managed to clear. Craig James then got the ball trapped under his feet and the striker got away but had no end product as he put his effort wide of the post.

Then the goal for Hinckley arrived, Roberts who had a solid game for Hinckley played a through ball for Lloyd Kerry, who shot towards goal in took a big deflection and ended up in the net. Disapointing from Town and Simon Weaver who said his team would be really up for the game today, from what i could see they wern't up for it at all possibly the slowest start id ever seen from Town.

Then massively against the run of play pretty much from the restart after the Hinckley goal town managed to get the ball forward, the Hinckley backline cleared the ball quite poorly and it dropped to Ciaran Toner on the edge of the box, he chested it down and struck it beautifully on the half-volley into the bottom left of the net. Wonderful finish from the former Rochdale man.

Town then managed to get a grip on the game a little bit, the strikers held the ball up front well, which was suprising with the ammount of awful service they were getting from the rest of the team, they were feeding off punts up the field for pretty much the whole game but you could see they were really trying hard to make something of it. Armstrong was having a decent game and had a decent chance to score, when the ball dropped to him from a corner, he did superbly to turn but the ball got deflected over the top from his left footed effort.

Town were definately on top at this point, some good play down the right from Roma and Williams then suddenly Williams was away, a quick one-two with roma set him away towards goal on the right hand side but his left foot effort struck the bottom of the post and bounced back out, Hinckley were then unable to clear and the ball dropped to Hardy he ran into the box and was about to shoot but Mace for Hinckley brought him down and the referee pointed to the spot. Graeme Armstrong stepped-up hoping to go top of the scoring chart for Harrogate Town, he rifled home his 2nd penalty in 2 games, very similar to the Stalybridge penalty hard and low into the bottom left of the goal.

Harrogate were leading 2-1 at half time, who would've thought that after the opening 15 minutes, to be fair to the lads i thought Hinckley looked on top at the start but they dug deep and turned the half around and i would say probably deserved to be on top at the break. It was Town defence however that just left you nervous, they'd been a few mistakes already and i could really just sense they would'nt be able to keep a clean sheet in the 2nd half.

The second half then began, Hinckley took control of the ball straight from the off, it seemed like the start of the game all over again, they were quicker to every ball and won everything in the air. You just felt in would be a matter of time before hinckley got the equaliser, Towns defence looked so nervous, how the ball didnt end up in the net on 54 minutes ill never know, a cross from the hinckley left got whipped in, Jacklin missed it, James missed it, Shepherd missed it. Luckily for us so did every Hinckley player as well, we were living dangerously on the edge.

Town made a substitution on around 60 minutes, as Duncan Williams was replaced by Matt Bloomer, which seemed a strange one from my point of view. If we were already under so much pressure, why would you bring on a defender for midfielder and go 5-3-2, surely that just invites more pressure onto the defenders, with not as many people closing down in midfield. On 65 minutes i thought that pressure had told, as Dootson made a mistake, a shot from the edge of the box which he tried to catch squirmed out of his grasp and Gary King tapped it into the roof of the net BUT the linesman had his flag up, the goal was disallowed for offside, which the goalscorer didnt seem to agree about. Surely this would encourage Harrogate Town to start getting hold of the ball and playing.

Unfortunately it didnt, Hinckley took the lead legitimately on 75 minutes, A deep free-kick to the back post from Hinckley was headed back across goal and there was Gray to make it 2-2. It was so frustrating as a Town fan to watch this game, as Hinckley played neat quick attacking football, we continued throughout the game to hoof it up front where most of the time it ran straight through to the opposition keeper. It was an apalling 2nd half display from Town.

On two occasions however we shouldve gone in front again, no doubt against the run of play, Wayne Phillips was played through on the counter attack, he was through, 1 on 1 with the keeper who came rushing out all he had to do was slide it into the back of the net but with Hinckley players tugging his shirt he put his shot wide, i feel a free-kick should of been given but to be honest from that situation he shouldve scored. In added on time at the end of the game we were through again a great ball through for Hardy bounced up, you thought he would surely just chip it over the keeper to give town a 3-2 win But he inexplicibly tried to tap it round the keeper to run onto, he instead tapped it straight into the keeper hand as he gratefully clasped the ball. Hardy was left with his hands on his head. I reckon that'll be the only time we see him do that this season.

That was it, final score 2-2 at the CNG Stadium, in what was a pretty poor performance, 2nd half they were all over us they couldve and shouldve won the game and been out of sight. I felt Weaver kind of brought the equaliser on him self going 5 at the back with over 30 minutes to go seemed a strange move we were already under pressure and surely going 5 at the back invites even more pressure, me personally wouldve liked to have seen Savory on a lot earlier for Armstrong who had a good game but just couldnt keep hold of the ball up there same for Hardy. And maybe although im not his biggest fan Nowakowski shouldve been introduced to try win some headers and build some attacks : (

Anyway enough said, needs to be better!!!!

Hinckley visit the CNG this saturday

Harrogate Town                               VS                 Hinckley United

Harrogate Town are back in action again this saturday, as Hinckley United make the trip to the CNG Stadium.

It is the the unofficial "Non League Day" on Saturday, England play on Friday night, meaning the premier league and the Championship are not in action due to International committments, fans of big clubs are being urged to get out and watch their local non-league team instead.

Harrogate Town will be expecting to pick up another 3 points on saturday, with Hinckley having not won a game away from home yet this season. Hinckley's last game was a 2-0 loss to Corby Town.

Last season Hinckley made the trip to the CNG, losing 3-1 goals scored from Peter Knox (2) and Jason Bradley gave town the win on that occasion. Although in the reverese fixture at Hinckley Town lost 3-2, goal from Lee Ellington and Dave Syer's not enough to give town the win.

CMON YOU TOWN!!!!!

Town battle to victory at Bower Fold

In a game that was dominated by the hosts, Town managed to win and score a penalty in which was possibly their only effort on target throughout the game. The game was a very scrappy affair, with a referee that just wanted to get involved a bit too much handing out a few needless Yellow Cards, which was not making the locals too happy.

The game started with Stalybridge on top, as they dominated Town just couldnt really string 2 passes together, the hosts were closing down well and limiting any options. In the first few minutes Stalybridge won a free-kick around 25-yards out which was subsequently skied over the bar, this seemed to happen a lot during the game, as a full time club you really would expect them to work on free-kicks. A few minutes later Stalybridge hit the woodwork through Lloyd Ellams, he broke through the Harrogate Town back line and smashed his shot against the bar and Town player Craig James was relieved to be able to clear the follow-up.

A few moments later and town were under pressure again, as that man Ellam managed to get through the back-line again with real ease, he got the wrong side of James and Dootson rushed out to block the attempted shot. Town fans at this point were just waiting for Stalybridge to take the lead it seemed inevitable the way the game was going.

Again it was Stalybridge on 28 minutes, Dootson came to Towns rescue again pulling off the save of the match to deny Phil Marsh, who twisted in the box and fired powerfully but dootson reactions just kept it out of the net.

Harrogate Town then got their first chance of the game, coming on the 43rd minute! some good work down the left hand side from Shepherd set hardy chasing the ball down the line he caught it and picked out the perfect cross for Ciaran Toner, who made a lung-busting run from midfield, and he just headed wide of the goal. Town fans hoped this would be a sign of things to come in the 2nd half.

Half time arrived, I just sat there wondering how the score could still be goalless, Stalybridge had outplayed us through-out the first half but just couldnt finish the chances presented to them. From what i could see i just thought the midfield was too easy for stalybridge to get through, there wasnt enough aggression or closing down from Williams and Toner, to put the hosts under pressure, they had far too much time to think about where to play the ball.

The second half then got under way, it was town on the back foot again, they just couldnt get hold of the ball for more than 2 passes, Stalybridge were pressuring well but ultimately the passing from the lads was atrocious and Armstrong touch seemed a bit off today he was unable to hold the ball up front.

There was a number of free-kicks from the hosts that either went wide, skied over the bar or lacked power, there just seemed to be no-one in the stalybridge ranks that could strike a decent free-kick. They were still on top at this point and a corner whipped in from the right was defended well by Craig James, the ball then dropped to Elam, but Town defended superbly putting their bodies on the line to block the attempted shot, Jacklin in particular had an outstanding game, blocking everything and making some strong headers.

Then out of no where a long ball pumped up field caught out the Stalybridge back line and hardy was in behind them, he sped away from the back tracking defence and out came the Stalybridge keeper Jan Budtz who brought hardy down and it was a penalty to Town surely now they would, hit their first shot on target and get that hardly deserved goal. It was Armstrong who stepped up he looked very confident, only looking at the ball as he sent the keeper the wrong way and into the bottom left, perfectly into the side of the net. Well most Town fans couldnt believe it their first shot on target had produced a goal and we were ahead. Although you have to say the past 5-10 minutes we were getting a bit more possesion and you sensed maybe we'd get a chance.

Stalybridge were were really pressing for that equaliser, Stanford for Stalybridge who had just come on the pitch flashed a shot wide of Dootsons goal and Crowther again having another attempt just wide, this summed up Stalybridge's day really, they could'nt finish at all! There was a penalty shout turned down for the hosts in the dying stages, which their fans were not too happy about, one man behind the goal was going mental jumping up and down shouting penalty, but the referee disagreed with him and waved play on.

There it was 1-0 and the first win away from home for Harrogate Town in the 10/11 season. Not the most prettiest of victories but the way we defended that second half no-one could've said we didnt deserve it. Praise must go to Jacklin, James and Dootson who had a great game for the team. Lets hope we can continue with another win on saturday!!!

Harrogate Town: Craig Dootson, Dominic Roma, Liam Shepherd, Duncan Williams, Michael Jacklin, Craig James, James Naylor, Ciaran Toner, Graeme Armstrong (Matt Bloomer), Liam Hardy, Aiden Savory (Wayne Phillips)

Subs Unused: Richard Pell, Adam Nowakowski, Danny Wright
Att: 365

CMON YOU TOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bank Holiday Monday Game

Stalybridge Celtic                  VS                             Harrogate Town

After only 1 day of rest since the thrashing we recieved from Boston, Town look to get their season back on track at Bower Fold today.

Stalybridge have had a very indifferent start to the season, after starting with 2 wins against Fleetwood and Reddtich respectively winning  the games 2-0 and 2-1. They are now however on a bit of a bad run, losing their last 3 games, a 5-2 loss to Hinckley United, a 4-1 loss to Vauxhall Motors and a 2-1 loss to Nuneaton Town.

Last year Town lost on both occasions to Stalybridge taking a thrashing on both occasions, i was at both games and we got no where near them let's hope this season will be different and we get stuck in from the off.

With Stalybridge letting in quite a few goals recently im sure Hardy and Armstrong will be wanting to get their names on the scoresheet, but it will all come down to whether the Town defence is upto the job today after getting beaten far too easily on saturday.

CMON YOU TOWN!!!!!!!!

Harrogate Town 3-6 Boston United

The title says it all really, Harrogate Town 3-6 Boston United, a scoreline that i think many fans thought they would never have to endure but today it was reality for the Town faithful.

The game actually kind of started well for Town, we had the most of the possession and we were really pressing Boston into their own half. Armstrong forced the Boston keeper into a decent save and forced a couple corners but were unable to find the breakthrough.

Then Boston came alive, sloppy defending from 2 corners in a row from Harrogate, the 1st corner a run from Pearson forced Dootson into a good save, then just seconds later another corner for Boston, the exact same run from Pearson as he escaped Nowakowski far too easily to power his header into the top corner to make it 1-0 to Boston. This was just the start of Bostons Dominance.

As 5 minutes later Boston went further ahead, a cross from the right from Semple, who was impressive throughout for the visitors, was headed powerfully into his own net by Richard Pell. Town fans were now starting to fear the worst, as Boston looked so much quicker than Town and just generally seemed to want the win much more than us.

A few minutes later again, down towns left hand side, Semple again managed to get the ball past Shepherd who was getting no help at all, crossed into the middle and guess what it was 3-0 to Boston, Towns defence split open once again.

On 23 minutes in was 4-0, a free-kick from Canoville towards the back post was headed back across goal and there was Yates to poke the ball into the net. A nightmare start for town fans who couldnt believe what was unfolding in front of them, with only a quarter of the game played we were 4-0 town, muttering around the town fans about players poor performances could be heard. Whilst the Boston fans just next me were chanting "lets get double figures". It was embarrassing as a Town fan to stand there and take this sort of performance.

Town managed to pull a goal back against the run of play a few minutes later, a run through the centre and a drive across goal from Armstrong led to a tap in for Liam Hardy. As a fan i could see no way back for us despite the Town players rushing the ball back to the centre circle.

My thoughts were correct as 2 minutes later Boston restored their 3 goal lead, good play from Davidson, he sent Bloomer 1 way and then the other before finally laying on a perfect pass for Spencer-Weir-Daley to smash into the net. I have to say as a Town fan Daley was outstanding through out the game, giving the Harrogate back-line no rest at all, his pace was extreme and he looked a different class throughout.

5 minutes later Town managed to grab a 2nd goal of the game, a corner whipped in found Armstrong who headered towards goal, the Boston keeper made a great save but was unable to keep out the rebound which was headed in by Nowakowski. A few claps from the Harrogate Town fans could be heard but most didnt see the point as they were being completely outclassed. The score now at 5-2 if your struggling to keep up.

A few minutes before half time and it was that man again, Semple cut in from the right ahnd side with ease, on his left foot he struck a cracking finish into the top left corner of the net from around 25 yards out, the best goal of the game, no doubt about that.

That summed up the half, and town fans were not happy, one man in particular was not happy and vented his frustration towards Town manager Simon Weaver, who has a lot of explaining to do after that abject first half display. The least Town fans hoped for was a spirited second half display to show that they do care about the team.

There was one substitution at half time, Shepherd who had been skinned far too often that first half was taken off to be replaced by Craig James, hopefully he could keep Semple Quiet.

It was Dootson however in action again, with the first shot of the half from daley saved well , who despite the score had a very good game during the 1st half preventing the scoreline from being even higher.

Town then seemed to take charge of the 2nd half a bit more, i think a mixture of Boston taking their foot of the gas, and Town getting stuck in a lot more and generally looking more up for it than the 1st half. Armstrong who i thought had a good game, kept in a seemlessly aimless ball and ran with real drive toward the Boston defence only to power his shot just wide of Mckeowns goal.

With 18 minutes remaining, Town managed to grab a 3rd goal of the game, which their second half performance throughly deserved a great run down the left from Phillips and a cross into the box was finished off by Liam Hardy who flicked a header into the bottom corner. The strikers and attacking players from Town really played quite well, Hardy and Armstrong up top putting themselves about well and looking dangerous, the 2 wingers Phillips and Naylor caused trouble, the debutant for Town Ciaran Toner must've wondered what kind of club he has walked into, he himself had a solid game not giving the ball away much really compared to the rest of the team, however it was ultimately the defence, Not Dootson which let Harrogate Town down as every attack from the visitors seemed to cause horrendous problems amongst the back four.

The game then slowly came to an end, Dootson having to make a few good saves and Mckeown for Boston also pulling off a couple of decent saves. That was the end of the very open game at the CNG stadium, Town fans were left devestated at their teams inability to defend against the pace of the Boston forward line. A few fans shouted for Weavers head at the end of the game showing the Town fans really want this team to get back to the good old day's where we are challenging for promotion, but on recent form we are a long way off.

A very Down-hearted Lee stacey reporting on the game today.