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10
Mar
Harrogate Town snatch vital goal at the death to sink relegation rivals
A stoppage time goal saw Harrogate Town narrowly defeat relegation rivals Carlisle.
The Sulphurites went into the match with a depleted squad but knowing that a win would be vital in their bid to escape relegation. Town sat on 37 points while bottom-placed Carlisle had 27 prior to the fixture.
Both sides probed throughout the match on Saturday (March 8), but a mixture of stalwart defending and poor finishing from both sides saw the game level all the way through until stoppage time.
A number of saves, courtesy of James Belshaw, kept Town alive in the second half, but the biggest chance of the game fell to Carlisle’s Terell Thomas when the ball fell to him inside 6 yards after a corner.
The centre half latched on to the ball on the volley but sent it high out of the stadium, much to the despair of the travelling supporters.
Town’s Bryn Morris also had a chance from the edge of the box, but had his spectacular curling effort matched with a brilliant diving save from Gabriel Breeze.
Five minutes into stoppage time and it looked as though the game was going to fizzle out for a goalless draw.
But a long throw-in cleared by the Carlisle defence fell to Harrogate’s Ellis Taylor on the edge of the box, who caught it on the volley.
The strike, not caught as cleanly as possible, looked to be heading past the post until a deflection from a boot stuck out by midfielder Josh Vela saw the ball in the back of the Carlisle net with less than a minute to play.
This win now leaves Harrogate with an 11-point gap from the relegation zone, as 23rd-placed Morecambe also dropped points against MK Dons.
In a post-match interview after the game, Harrogate boss Simon Weaver said that it was a “massive result” for Town:
We knew it would be a tight encounter, they’re fighting for their lives and we are in a dogfight. We know what was at stake.
We had to stay in it, obviously try to win it, but grind away at it.
I’m glad that we’ve got a group of players here that we really trust. There’s been a big turnover of players, more than we’re usually accustomed to, in January, but they’ve gelled with the existing squad.
Everyone on our team, including the fans, played their part, and that’s why we’ll get that feeling of jubilation in the changing room.
Harrogate travel away to Newport on Saturday, who are three places ahead of them. A win would see them go level on points with the Welsh side and could see them climb further away from the relegation zone.
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