Goalkeeper Mark Oxley inspired us to victory – Harrogate boss Simon Weaver

Posted Sunday, October 01, 2023 by PA

Harrogate boss Simon Weaver hailed goalkeeper Mark Oxley following his match-winning display in their 1-0 win at MK Dons.

Oxley made two fine stops to deny Mo Eisa inside the first 10 minutes before later keeping out Daniel Harvie’s strike from range as the hosts applied early pressure.

Having ridden the storm, Harrogate went ahead in fortuitous circumstances when Dons goalkeeper Craig MacGillivray’s clearance struck the unfortunate Warren O’Hora and flew into the back of the net four minutes before the break.

The visitors dug deep in the second half to secure all three points and leave their manager beaming.

“We are buzzing and delighted with the victory,” Weaver said.

“We initially lacked a little bit of the intensity which we really desire and demand. It probably took a fine save from Mark Oxley to be the catalyst to have a better performance.

“After the first 15 minutes we were terrific and really hard to beat, which we have been for the last few weeks.

“The confidence has grown with our efforts on the ball in order to counter-attack and pass our way up the pitch, and we showed great courage in that respect at a difficult place to come.

“There were signs on the counter-attack, where we caused a bit of mayhem, sucked them into the middle third, and when we broke it up, we had threats.

“Second half was all about grit and seeing it through, and we could have added to the tally. But we’re delighted with the clean sheet and victory.”

The hosts struggled to create clear-cut chances in the second half, Harvie and Jack Payne missing the target from outside the box, but Graham Alexander felt his side were hard done by as their winless run stretched to five league matches.

“The way we played, there’s no way we should lose that game,” he said.

“The keeper’s made some wonderful saves and we gave a really, really poor goal away just before half-time.

“It played into an away team’s hands. They sat deep and looked to counter us and got deeper and deeper and became a solid sort-of back 11.

“There were instances we could have done better but I can’t admonish the players for their work ethic and commitment. It’s a tough result to take where I don’t think it was deserved.

“Anyone looking at the game again in the cold light of day will say we did more than enough to win.

“It’s probably more than some of the games we won in the start of the season, but that’s how football works sometimes.

“What we do is stay together, crack on, work on Monday and try to put it right on Tuesday.”