Harrogate had a bad night at the office as they went down to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Oldham Athletic at the EnviroVent Stadium.
Town had to make one enforced change to their starting line up with the injured Dan Jones being replaced by Mitch Roberts.
Harrogate almost made a dream start,when with only 13 seconds on the clock,Josh McPake had a shot which was deflected for a corner.
Although Town were putting the Latic’s defence under pressure,it was the visitors who took an early Lead.
Town could only clear an Oldham corner as far as the edge of the area and Alfie McCalmont hit a rising drive past Joe Cracknell which entered the net via the underside of the crossbar.
Harrogate countered strongly and began to take advantage of some hesitant midfield play to dominate possession.
Although Latic’s keeper Laurie Walker saved well from Jack Muldoon and Carl Piergianni cleared from Roberts,once again Town could not convert pressure into goals Indeed,it was Oldham’s infrequent raids that were the more dangerous and it took two world class saves from Cracknell to ensure that Town were only one goal behind at the break.
However,Town’s habit of conceding goals immediately after the restart once again resurfaced.
A long ball down the right opened up Town and although Cracknell made two excellent blocks at the near post from McCalmont,Dylan Bahambula was on hand to drive home a rebound from close range.
Town tried hard to redress the balance and George Thomson’s free kick,after a foul on McPake,troubled Walker.
Unfortunately for Town,the game was settled on 79 minutes when Cracknell dwelt on a back pass and his belated clearance cannoned of sub George Blackwood into the net.
Although Simon Weaver threw on all his subs,the damage was already done,so let’s hope for better things at Carlisle on Saturday.
Town,
Cracknell.Cracknell,Burrell(Fallowfield 79),Roberts,Smith,Smith,Hall,Thomson(Kiernan 83),Falkingham(Williams 83),Kerry(Francis 79),McPake,Stead(Beck 75),Muldoon.
Unused sub,Belshaw
Oldham Athletic,
Walker,Clarke,Borthwick-Jackson,Piergianni,Whelan,Keillor-Dunn(Vaughan 80),Jameson,McAleny(Garry 72),Adams(Badam 80),Bahmaboula(Barnes 63),McCalmont(Blackwood 72).
Unused subs,Farge,Bilboa.
Scorers,McCalmont(7),Bahambula(46),Blackwood (79).
Referee,Carl Boyeson
By John Harrison.
