AFC Wimbledon 3 Harrogate Town 2: Simon Weaver left to rue failure to deal with 'hopeful long balls'

Harrogate Town conceded two late goals on their way to a 3-2 loss at AFC Wimbledon on Saturday afternoon. Pictures: Matt Kirkham

Simon Weaver was was left to rue his Harrogate Town’s side’s failure to deal with two “hopeful long balls” as they let three points slip through their fingers at AFC Wimbledon.

The struggling Sulphurites fought back from a goal down to take a 2-1 lead into the closing stages of Saturday’s League Two clash at Plough Lane, only to concede twice in the space of five minutes and finish up empty-handed.

That defeat was their 10th in 16 league outings this term and leaves them fourth-from-bottom of the table, only above the relegation zone by virtue of them having a better goal-difference than Rochdale and Hartlepool United.

But Town’s most recent loss was one that Weaver felt could easily have been avoided.

Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver urges his side on during Saturday's League Two clash at Plough Lane.

"We wanted a positive result and we didn’t get that because we didn’t deal with a set-piece and two long balls,” he reflected.

"In the first instance, we invited that hopeful ball into the box because we didn’t engage the throw-in 35 yards out. We’re all on the edge of the box or in the box and it’s protective.

"The lads care so much that sometimes there wasn’t a response of clarity instead of someone thinking ‘I’ll be the first midfielder out there, I’ll stop the cross, stop it at source’.

"They had a 6ft 9” lad stood in an offside position, there’s been a bit of a misjudgement, it’s bounced, it’s ended up going in, an ugly goal, but they all count. The offside decision could have gone our way, but it didn’t, again. But we still have to learn from the experience and know that we could have dealt with the initial ball at source much earlier.

"The second one was a hoof up the field and the forward has come inside Jaheim and nailed it.”

Town didn’t offer a great deal during the opening period and headed into the interval a goal down after Paul Kalambayi beat Kayne Ramsay and Luke Armstrong to Ethan Chislett’s right-wing corner. His header bounced just in front of Jaheim Headley, and with goalkeeper Pete Jameson seemingly unsighted, found its way into the back of the net.

The Sulphurites offered more after the break and pulled level within two minutes of the resumption when Matty Daly pounced from close-range after Luke Armstrong’s near-post effort from Alex Pattison right-wing pull-back had been pushed away by Nik Tzanev.

Harrogate then turned the game on its head in the 65th minute. Headley’s corner from the right was met at the far post by Jack Muldoon, who helped it back across goal for McArdle to force it over the line with a little help from Pattison.

Weaver’s men held that advantage until the 84th minute when Alfie Bendle’s punt into the Town box was met unconvincingly by Jameson, who kept coming in attempt to make second contact with the ball, only to see Courtney Senior lob a scruffy first-time finish over his head and into the unguarded goal.

As bad a goal as that may have been to concede, Wimbledon’s winner was even worse from a Harrogate point of view.

Tzanev booted the ball long from deep inside his own half and Josh Davison was somehow able to run inside Headley and pluck the ball out of the air before advancing into the box and slotting a low finish inside Jameson’s near post.

"We’ve got some young lads in there and it’s different dealing with that style of football but we have got to come of age,” Weaver added.

"And those that come of age and keep on improving will turn the ship for us, we are convinced of that. Harrogate Town at this level won’t get ready-made players who have got 200 league games under their belt unless they are 35, so we have got to work with them and try and improve them step-by-step.

"There’s still improvements to be made because we can’t go under with two hopeful long-balls.”