Harrogate Town 2 AFC WImbledon 2: Levi Sutton strikes late to seal dramatic comeback for Sulphurites

Trailing 2-0 with just a minute of the regulation 90 remaining, Luke Armstrong got the Sulphurites back into the contest before Levi Sutton netted a dramatic equaliser with virtually the last kick off the game.

With second-from-bottom Hartlepool United thrashing Grimsby, Simon Weaver’s team now sit 20th in the table, two points clear of the bottom two with a game in hand on all of the sides below them.

“There have been games this season when we’ve played good football and lost but we just had to stick in this match to get that elation at the end,” said Weaver.

“There were moments before then that helped us stay in it as well like Warren Burrell’s block that prevented a certain goal and, while we’ve conceded a few this season, it was our turn to get the late goals.

“The players did not accept they were defeated at 2-0 down and kept believing in themselves and everyone could see how much getting a result from this game meant to them, because we kept pouring forward.

“The fans were giving us some stick and maybe that’s a sign of how the club has evolved because they go through the full spectrum of emotions like we do.

“We have to fight, snarl and scrap for every point here and, while we might not exhilarate the Harrogate public with Manchester City-style football, I hope that some of them that were giving us stick have gone home knowing they have a team of players that care.”

Town fell behind with 32 minutes on the clock when the lively Sam Pearson cut in off the right wing and saw his stinging effort blocked by Tom Eastman, only for Ethan Chislett to react quickest inside the box to beat the exposed Mark Oxley.

Town could have fallen two goals behind on 57 minutes when Pearson raided down the right and almost caught Oxley out at his near post. But, from the resulting corner, they doubled their advantage and looked to be on course for the most routing of victories.

Oxley got an unconvincing hand to Lee Brown’s right-wing corner and could only help the ball as far as Chislett, who met it on the edge of the box and found the net with a first-time effort.

With 89 minutes on the clock and the stands emptying, Kazeem Olaigbe showed nimble feet on the edge of the box before sliding the ball into the feet of Armstrong, who finished clinically.

With six added minutes displayed, the Sulphurites stepped up the attacking intensity, although they were grateful when Oxley saved with his legs to deny substitute Jack Currie one-on-one.

Seconds later, Matty Foulds delivered a corner from the right, finding Sutton at the far post where he took a touch before crashing the ball into the roof of the net.

Harrogate Town: Oxley, Thomson, O'Connor, Eastman, Foulds, Sutton, Falkingham, Muldoon (Burrell 67), Daly (Folarin 61), Olaigbe, Armstrong. Unused substitutes: Mattock, Angus, Jameson, McArdle.AFC Wimbledon: Broome, Ogundere, Nightingale, Pierre, Brown, Woodyard, Pearson (McAteer 74), Little (Marsh 90), Chislett (Currie 76), Jaiyesimi (Janneh 73), Al-Hamadi. Unused substitutes: Gunter, Jenkins, Griffiths.Referee: Scott Jackson (England).