Simon Weaver proud of Harrogate players despite late collapse in Grimsby draw

Harrogate boss Simon Weaver insisted he remained proud of his players despite seeing them surrender a 3-1 lead at the death during a six-goal thriller against Grimsby.

The Sulphurites were closing in on back-to-back victories to kick off their campaign before Harvey Rodgers struck in the 84th minute for the Mariners and Jaze Kabia then pounced in injury time to secure a 3-3 draw.

But Weaver was pleased that new signings Recce Smith and Conor McAleny – the latter recruited just 24 hours before kick-off – both joined Ellis Taylor on the scoresheet in front of an attendance of 3,562, which marked a new record for a campaign curtain-raiser at Wetherby Road.

He said: “I have mixed emotions with the way the game finished, but we showed again that we are a really capable team and built on the performance at Bristol Rovers (last weekend’s 1-0 win). We got ourselves in a great position and it was good to see new players making an immediate impact.

“It was a great individual goal from Reece and we took confidence from that and played with a bit more composure. Conor has that aura about him that he looks like he’s always going to score.

“He also got a great goal after coming on and we really should have won from there. I didn’t see us conceding two late goals, but they threw everyone forward and we dropped a little, which is natural when you’re leading 3-1 that late on.

“But, when you drop, you still have to show urgency in the defensive third and we could have been tighter for their goals.

“We’re disappointed with the final outcome. However, there is much to be proud of, because I thought we posed Grimsby problems and they are a good team.”

Charles Vernam had earlier cancelled out Smith’s opener and Kieran Green also hit a post for the Mariners, while Cameron McJannet was denied by a superb James Belshaw save, leading away boss David Artell to argue his side were easily worthy of a point, regardless of how late it was secured.

“To come from 3-1 down that late on and get a point is testament to the players’ belief and character, but it was no more than they deserved,” he declared. “We limited them to very few entries into our penalty box and we also had so many players in their box at times that we actually got in each other’s way in the first half.

“We hit the post and, when you have a half like that, you have to make sure you go in at least one goal to the good, if not two or three. We then didn’t defend very well on the transitions and found ourselves 3-1 down, but the goals we scored were good ones.

“We should have had more because of the number of chances we had and their keeper made an unbelievable save but, when you’re 3-1 down that late on, you take a point, that’s for sure.”