Last night, Harrogate slipped to a disappointing 2-1 defeat against relegation threatened Colwyn Bay, at a sparsely populated CNG Stadium.
It all started so well for Town.Within two minutes Tom Platt’s through ball rebounded of veteran,Frank Sinclair, into the path of Dom Knowles and he fired into the corner of the net from 15 yards.
Town piled on the pressure, with Mike Woods and Adam Nowakowski shooting over,and Platt forcing Chris Sanna to turn round the post.
Colwyn Bay then struck back with a vengeance;speedy No 8,Shelton Payne, did a fair impression of Usain Bolt,with a lightening run down the left and the home defence failed to clear his cross.
Matt Bloomer’s defensive header was returned to Payne and he beat Craig MacGillivray,with a shot into the top corner.
Within three minutes,Payne once again created havoc down the left,but this time Shane Killock was on hand to rob Jamie Ellison with a superb tackle.
Town failed to heed the warnings, and on 23 minutes Payne was sent clear by Jamie Lampkin.
This time he reached the by line and his low centre was sidefooted home by Michael Lea.
Town made determined efforts to equalise before the break,with the hard working Woods providing the ammunition, with both Platt and Chib Chilaka missing the target, and Platt heading a corner across goal in the dying moments of the half.
Bay squandered an early second half chance to pull further away when Ellison blazed over when through,but Town began to apply the pressure.
Lee Elam and Rob Youhill replaced Chilaka and Woods and with 20 minutes left Paul Bolland replaced the industrious Adam Nowakowski.
Platt miscued when well placed and Sanna blocked bravely from Knowles.
It began to seem that it may not be Town’s night when the Bay goal survived intact, after a series of rebounds and near misses.
Bay survived, and mounted a couple of dangerous attacks.
Lea’s corner crept across Town’s goal,but found no Bay forwards able to take advantage.
Then Town survived another scare when the excellent MacGillivray uncharacteristically flapped at a corner, but the ever reliable Killock was on hand to clear.
Harrogate staged a grandstand finish with Sanna saving well from Killock and Bolland’s late effort hitting the woodwork.
The last action of the game saw Adam Bolder receive a yellow card for blatantly punching the ball into the net.
Town 1 MacGillivray,2 Samuels, 3 Merris, 4 Bolder, 5 Bloomer, 6 Killock (c), 7 Platt, 8 Nowakowski ( Bolland 70), 9 Knowles, 10 Woods (Youhill 61), 11 Chilaka (Elam 53).
Unused subs 15 White, 17 Dean.
Scorer Knowles. Bookings Samuels, Bolder.
