Simon Weaver smiling as Harrogate come from behind to beat Oldham

Harrogate boss Simon Weaver saluted a “massive” win as his team came from behind to win 2-1 at 10-man Oldham.

Weaver was delighted after his side got back on track after four defeats in five games ahead of the Boundary Park clash, and their record now reads as a more favourable two wins from three.

Weaver said: “That was a terrific win for us. Oldham have been in good form lately and have scored a lot of goals.

“We deserved to win of course, but we had to survive a few anxious moments towards the end. We should have put the game to bed early on, but that didn’t happen.

“We’ve done brilliant to come back and secure a massive three points, though.

“Results like these are small steps forward. We do need to be more compact and more ruthless, but this is a great result for us. The reaction to going behind was first class.”

Weaver on to praise match-winner George Thomson, who notched his second and third goals of the season after Conor McAleny’s penalty.

“They were two good strikes and two good goals,” added Weaver. “He plays a pivotal role in our team so I’m delighted for him.

“Hopefully those two goals will give George a boost that he really deserves because of all the hard work he puts in.”

The hosts struck in the 19th minute when McAleny converted from the spot after Town skipper Warren Burrell had tripped Davis Keillor-Dunn.

Eleven minutes later Town deservedly replied when Thomson fired home from the edge of the box.

Just before the break Oldham’s cause was hindered when striker Bobby Grant received a straight red card after clattering into Jake Lawlor.

Thomson struck Town’s winner with 19 minutes left, drilling clinically into the roof of the net from 15 yards.

Away-day specialists Oldham have now lost eight home League Two fixtures.

Boss Harry Kewell said: “We just weren’t good enough today, it’s as simple as that really.

“Right from minute one we just weren’t at our game, and that’s the most frustrating thing.

“Credit to Harrogate, they were excellent, they seemed to cancel out everything we threw at them.

“They responded well to going behind, and in the end they deserved to win.

“The red card put us into a difficult position at a tricky stage of the game, but despite that it was Harrogate who were first to every first ball and first to every second ball.

“That wasn’t the team I saw win at Newport last weekend. We just never got going.

“The quality wasn’t there from my players. We’ve shown what we’re capable of in recent weeks, and last week’s was a brilliant result, but that’s dead and buried now and we have to move on to the next game at Grimsby as positively as possible now.”