Paul Thirlwell hoping for ‘scruffy goal’ at Harrogate Town

The Sulphurites suffered their fourth defeat in six League Two matches when they went down 3-0 at Leyton Orient on Saturday, a result which sees them drop to 14th in the table.

Assistant boss Thirlwell concedes too many players’ standards have dropped in recent weeks, but is adamant that there is sufficient quality within the Town squad to turn things around.

“I don’t want to get too downbeat with the lads because that group of players, the vast majority of them, have been colossal for us over a long period of time and we want them to get better and grow with us and be League Two players,” said Thirlwell, standing in for Simon Weaver, who remains in Covid-19 isolation.

“But, at the minute, being honest, some of, or a lot of them, have fallen below the standards that we expect.

“Sometimes we need to score a scruffy goal, the ball coming off someone’s backside or the bridge of their nose. We just need a scruffy goal, maybe a scruffy win.”

Harrogate fell behind on 18 minutes when Danny Johnson finished off a counter-attack, running onto Connor Wilkinson’s ball over the top.

Johnson’s second of the afternoon was a volley from a narrow angle, and the O’s forward would complete his hat-trick courtesy of a free header from a 73rd-minute corner.

Leyton Orient: Vigoroux; Ling, Coulson, Happe, Widdowson; McAnuff (Dayton 78), Cisse, Kyprianou (Wright 87); Wilkinson (Dennis 82), Johnson, Brophy (Maguire-Drew 82). Unused substitutes: Sargeant, Thomas, Akinola.

Harrogate Town: Belshaw; Fallowfield, Lawlor (Burrell 46), Hall, Jones; Thomson, Falkingham, Kerry (Kirby 60); Kiernan (Walker 84), Martin (Stead 60), Muldoon. Unused substitutes: Cracknell, Lokko.

Referee: N Hair (Cambridgeshire).

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