Harrogate boss Simon Weaver hailed veteran striker Jack Muldoon’s “dedication to his profession” after his first goal in open play for 30 games secured a 1-1 draw against Swindon.
Other than an opening-day penalty at Doncaster, Muldoon had not netted since February but ended that barren run in emphatic fashion, with a belting edge-of-the-box finish.
The 34-year-old’s equaliser came after on-loan Bradford striker Jake Young had grabbed his 13th goal of the season.
A pleased Weaver said: “The goal was good on the eye and Jack Muldoon, at 34, was like a man possessed. He showed a real dedication to his profession because, seconds after scoring our equaliser, he was back making tackles in the full-back position.”
The point ended a run of five straight defeats for the Sulphurites at Wetherby Road – a sequence that has coincided with four consecutive league wins on the road – with Weaver admitting: “Everyone keeps asking me about the massive contrast between our home and away form, even my postman!
“But, sometimes you can’t read too much into these things. You’ve just got to instil belief into the players because we have got a good group here and a lot of spirit and I enjoyed our performance in this game.
“We were frustrated not to win, but we kept attacking and pressing and the stats showed we were on top. It was just that final third where we needed a bit more.
“We need to score more goals, but we can look forward with optimism because we were getting into that final third with some very good play and the equaliser came at the end of a really good passing move.”
The draw also ended a five-game losing streak for Swindon, but manager Mike Flynn argued that his team were denied maximum points after the officials awarded a free-kick for home goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell during a scramble that saw the ball cross the line off what appeared to be Young’s heel.
“We had a perfectly legitimate goal disallowed, which was very frustrating,” Flynn bemoaned. “It was poor from the officials.
“I’ve watched it back three times and I wouldn’t comment unless I was 100 per cent sure, but the goalkeeper dropped the ball and it was then back-heeled in.
“These things happen when you’re in a sticky patch and I thought we merited more than a point, even though Murph (Murphy Mahoney) has made some good saves for us. I was disappointed by the first 20 minutes of the second half, though.
“We gave them impetus and that’s happened a number of times now after we’ve been leading at half-time. We gave their player a free shot from the edge of the box to pick his spot and that can’t happen, but the team stuck together after that and we had seven players out, so we’re wafer thin and the sooner we get to January to get some bodies in the better.”