Harrogate Town: Simon Weaver is left relieved after ‘must-win’ game

But, they didn’t have things all their own way prior to switching from a 3-4-3 system to 4-4-2, and Weaver revealed that confidence levels weren’t particularly high in the Town camp prior to them getting their noses in front. 

“I thought it was a must-win game for us today. We’ve been on a difficult run for one reason or another, but we had to come through the game with three points,” Weaver reflected.

“To do it with a convincing second-half performance and a good scoreline behind us should do wonders for the confidence levels.

“We knew that Scunthorpe would perceive this as a very important game as well, obviously they needed the three points, but ultimately we have come through.

“The confidence levels weren’t great at the start or in the first 20 minutes, but after we scored the first couple of goals you could see we have got some good players and the lads turned it on in the final half an hour.”

Town took the lead on 22 minutes when George Thomson’s left-wing corner beat everyone and found its way inside the far post, before Jack Diamond doubled the advantage shortly after the hour-mark. Will Smith then wrapped things up with a header from another Thomson set-piece, leaving Weaver grateful to his players for “digging in and getting us the win”.

“It was great to see two set-pieces go in and Jack’s finish was fantastic and lifted everyone,” the Harrogate boss added. 

“The supporters were so happy with that finish and it was timely for us. You could see then us grabbing hold of the ball in midfield, especially Thommo [Thomson], and spraying passes – and that’s what we’ve been about, we have just got to get those confidence levels back up.

“We’ve tried to be ultra-positive in training and back the players because in football, when momentum goes against you, it’s so easy for people within the ranks to be negative about things, but we stayed strong.

“I can’t thank the players enough for digging in today and doing what they thought was right on the pitch, which was getting on the front foot and playing well basically, doing the basics well and getting us the win.

“We’ve had some tricky times recently and I think it’s part of growing up really, for all of us. Everyone in the building has made mistakes but this is the test that the Football League provides.”

Scunthorpe: Watson, Rowe, Taft, Delaney, Lewis, Sinclair, Feeney, Cribb (Beestin 63), Hackney (Gallimore 82), Burns (Pyke 63), Nuttall. Unused substitutes: Bunn, Baker, Foster, Young.

Harrogate Town: Oxley, Smith, Sheron, Burrell, Fallowfield, Thomson, Pattison (Kerry 62), Diamond, Muldoon, Armstrong, Kavanagh. Unused substitutes: Beck, Cracknell, Austerfield, McArdle, Power.

Referee: T Harrington (Cleveland).