Simon Weaver lays down gauntlet to Harrogate Town after dour Barrow draw

For 84 minutes, the chosen cry of the home faithful was ‘forward’. The plea fell on deaf ears as Harrogate moved with a distinct lack of urgency. There was a brief period, in the dying embers, when the crowd was simply willing one of Harrogate’s chances to put the side back on level terms.

It was back to rallying cries after the 1-0 defeat, as an unimpressed Simon Weaver laid down the gauntlet to his below-par Harrogate players.

“There has to be more urgency in the first half,” he said. “I can’t be begging players to sprint and close people down.

“I’m not doing it, it will drive me insane. I think we’ve done fairly well for the club over a number of years, you make sacrifices. Players have to make the same sacrifices as we are to keep the progression on an upward curve.

“I was frustrated today because some people have gone from seven and eight out of 10 to four in a week.”

There were flickers of hope but that is all they were. Flickers. Moments of quality from either side were fleeting in all fairness.

Had the sun not been shining, fans could have expected the ball to come down with snow on it at times. Intricate passing sequences simply did not materialise, while attacking moves were impulsive and hectic, rather than incisive and controlled.

Neo Eccleston was the match-winner, nodding home from a corner in the second-half. It was the on-loan Huddersfield Town defender’s first senior goal and he celebrated in acrobatic style. His backflip was perhaps the highlight of a dour afternoon of turgid football.

“We’ve got to keep instilling belief,” said Weaver. “But you can only wait so long. I’m making the changes because we’re underperforming, I’m not going to wait until 85 minutes.

“The first changes have to be made early enough to make an impact. It’s okay performing, coming on against Preston when the game’s lost, when points are to play for there’s more pressure.

“There were a lot of nervy players out there today. It’s a disappointing afternoon. We have to work hard in training in all aspects because we looked poor today.”

The defeat extended Harrogate’s wait for a home win, which stretches back to April. Weaver has challenged his players to start stepping up and making their home turf a fortress.

“We’re trying to find the balance in that team,” he said. “It’s very early in the season.

"It seems to be more at home where lads shrivel under the pressure. It’s hardly the San Siro. To be fair to our home fans, as soon as we’re putting balls into the box, and getting strikes on goal in the last few minutes, they’re right behind us.

"Since we’ve been in the Football League, we haven’t performed well enough as a home team.

“I’m exasperated today but there’s a lot of football to be played. But we need to find courageous players at home, even more so than away at times."

Harrogate Town: Belshaw, Sims, O’Connor, Foulds (Gibson 77); Asare (Dooley 77), Burrell, Sutton (Cornelius 63), Taylor; M. Daly (Muldoon 72), Folarin, J. Daly (Duke-McKenna 62).

Unused substitutes: Oxley, March.

Barrow: Farman, Eccleston, Vassell, Canavan, Jackson; Campbell, Gotts; Popov (Tiensia 90+1), Spence, Kouyate (Acquah 62, Dallas 90); Garner (Worrall 78).

Unused substitutes: Stanway, Foley, Telford.

Referee: Scott Simpson (Staffordshire)