Evans bemoans Stevenage mistakes after draw at Harrogate

Steve Evans blamed sloppy finishing and one defensive lapse as his Stevenage team surrendered the chance of victory at Harrogate.

The promotion-chasing visitors took a second-half lead courtesy of captain Carl Piergianni’s sixth goal of the season from defence.

But Alex Pattison was allowed to burst unchallenged from midfield for the hosts to deliver the left-wing cross that Luke Armstrong headed in to earn Simon Weaver’s men a 1-1 draw on 77 minutes.

Evans said: “The conditions made it very difficult for both teams and, as a manager, you never want a gale-force wind because it neutralises the game. But we stepped up after half-time and got the goal.

“I’m not sure how Danny Rose didn’t get a penalty after then and I’ll be asking the referee why but, having made the breakthrough, we then didn’t track the runner and they got their equaliser. I’ve told the player concerned that, if he does that again, then he won’t be playing – it’s as simple as that.

“We could have also then dealt with the cross a bit better and missed three easy chances to win the game at 1-0 up – well they looked easy to me, but I’ll need to have a look back at them. Then, when you don’t get that second goal, you always run the risk of not winning.

“Overall, though, I have to give credit to the players because they’ve gone from playing at Aston Villa one weekend to Harrogate the next and that’s no disrespect because they’ve done a brilliant job here and I love visiting the town in the summer.”

Weaver was impressed with the defensive attrition Harrogate showed after conceding three goals apiece against relegation rivals Colchester and Hartlepool in their previous two outings.

He said: “It was a good point for us. I think both teams were really hard at it and the energy levels were really good.

“On a day like this, when it’s blowing a gale, it’s all about attrition and it was always going to be a very difficult task but everybody stuck to it. The players showed an outstanding attitude and stood up to a physical encounter.

“We had an effort cleared off the line and, if that goes in, it’s a brilliant win but, regardless, the lads can be proud of their performance. We know all about Stevenage but they’re hard to stop and it needed a tremendous response from us after going a goal down and the effort levels were bang on throughout the game.

“We challenged the lads after being bitterly disappointed with the goals we conceded in our last match against Colchester and they didn’t come short in terms of their attitude and physicality.”