Harrogate Town's Ellis Taylor shows perfect timing against Carlisle United

The game destined to end goalless until former Sunderland winger Ellis Taylor netted a deflected 20-yard volley to decide matters in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Victory saw Harrogate pull 11 points clear of the bottom two, while it left Carlisle rooted to the bottom, six points from safety.

“We knew it would be a tight encounter because Carlisle are fighting for their lives and we are in a dogfight, so it’s a massive result,” he said.

“It was about not making errors, defending well and grinding it out. Fortunately, we had that one last chance to win it and that was a glorious moment for us.”

Sam Lavelle and Terell Thomas missed decent opportunities to break the deadlock for Carlisle before substitute Stephen Wearne was denied by Harrogate goalkeeper James Belshaw deep in stoppage time.

Less than a minute later, a throw-in broke for Town winger Ellis Taylor just outside the penalty area, and his volleyed effort was deflected past Gabriel Breeze.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

“We didn’t deserve that,” insisted Carlisle manager Mark Hughes insisted. “Overall, I thought that we were the side that looked the more likely and we should have another point on the board.

“Did we deserve to win the game? Possibly not. But we certainly didn’t deserve to lose it – that’s the reality. Harrogate have had that slice of luck right at the end, and we haven’t.”

Harrogate Town: Belshaw, Sims, O'Connor, Moon, Burrell, Fox (Akono Bilongo 74), Morris, Cornelius, Sutton (Dooley 32), Taylor, March. Unused substitutes: Oxley, Gibson, Solomon, M Daly, Cursons.

Carlisle United: Breeze, Davies, Hayden, Lavelle, Thomas, Harper (Jones 90), Embleton (Vela 66), Whelan (Hugill 66), Guy, Harris (Wearne 90), Scott (Kelly 83). Unused substitutes: Lewis, Patching.

Referee: Sebastian Stockbridge (Tyne & Wear).