Simon Weaver blown away by quality of George Thomson’s winner for Harrogate

Harrogate boss Simon Weaver admitted that the quality of midfielder George Thomson’s 15th goal of the season left everyone at the EnviroVent Stadium rubbing their eyes in disbelief.

Thomson slammed a 25-yard howitzer into the roof of the Grimsby net to secure a 1-0 win on 49 minutes and keep the Sulphurites in play-off contention.

Weaver said: “I think everyone in the ground was shocked because he didn’t even have a proper celebration with the staff, players or fans, but it was another brilliant strike and I’m so glad for him.

“He’s an integral part of the team on and off the pitch and he lives his life in such a dedicated and professional manner.”

The victory moved Harrogate to within four points of the top seven with three fixtures left to play.

It was also the club’s third straight home win, with Weaver adding: “We just want to have something to play for for as long as possible. We’ve reduced the gap to four points again, which makes it interesting for a number of teams and you can never say never.

“We will keep fighting on and another home win gives us confidence. We want people buying season tickets, getting behind us and believing in what we’re building, so gaining some momentum at home can only help with that and I was really pleased with a lot of the performance.

“It was gritty and we kept a clean sheet in a horrific wind. We dealt with that in the first half and had to be streetwise before placing more emphasis on getting on the ball a bit more and causing them more problems in the second. It was a good, controlled performance.”

Grimsby boss David Artell bemoaned that the nature of his side’s second-half performance “bordered on insanity”.

He said: “Ultimately, we lost to a 25-yard strike but, in the second half, we also kept doing the same thing, which bordered on insanity at times.

“They scored a goal, then sat in and made themselves hard to break down, which is what we have become good at, too.

“But what we still need to work on and develop for next season is, when teams are doing that to you, you don’t just try and whack the ball in behind them. You have to try and draw them out.

“We had some good chances in the second half but I think it just came from hope, rather than being purposefully creative.”