A late goal from skipper Josh Falkingham gave Town victory over Concord Rangers in the delayed 2020
Buildbase F A Trophy at Wembley Stadium.
In a bright opening by Harrogate,Concord custodian,Chris Haigh,had to make fine saves from George Thomson,Will Smith and Lloyd Kerry to herald a performance which earned him “Man of the Match”.
Concord began to find their feet and both Ryan Charles and Lamar Reynolds made forays into Town’s box which were easily dealt with.
Harrogate were having the lion’s share of the play and Warren Burrell found Jon Stead on the edge of the area,but his smart turn and shot just evaded the far post.
Sam Blackman drove over the bar in a rare Rangers raid,but it was Town who dominated the remaining twenty minutes of the first half.
Thomson had an effort cleared off the line by Jack Cawley,while Jack Muldoon had an attempt scrambled away.
Just before half time,Stead almost broke the deadlock when his low drive took a deflection off Tyrone Sterling,causing Haigh to make a desperate save with his legs.
Concord were more adventurous after the break and on fifty five minutes a long throw caused problems in the Town defence,but Cawley volleyed over from close range.
Simon Weaver then made a double change with Ryan Fallowfield and Mark Beck replacing Dan Jones And Stead.
This gave Town a new lease of life and Haigh soon had to make saves from Beck and Johnson.
Next,Brendan Kiernan replaced Josh McPake and was soon in action,when he headed a Kerry centre wide.
However,on seventy six minutes,Town got their just reward when Muldoon broke into the penalty area and beat Haogh with a low shot which rebounded off the upright,to be met by Falkingham who headed home.
Town were in no mood to surrender their lead and easily saw out the remaining time including six minutes stoppage time.
Town,
Cracknell,Burrell.Jones(Fallowfield( 61),Smith,Hall,Thomson,Falkingham,Kerry,McPake(Kiernan( 67)
Stead(Beck 61),Muldoon.
Unused subs,Belshaw,Lokko,Francis,Williams.
Scorer,Falkingham((76).
Booked ,Jones (44).
Concord Rangers,
Haigh,Payne,Roast((Martin 83),Pollock,Cawley,Blanchfield(Wall 79),Blackman,Simper,Charles(Babalok 59),Sterling,Reynolds.
Unused subs,McFadden,Wilks,Search,Hernandez
Referee,Peter Bankes
By John Harrison
