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.”
New Man Utd boss Amorim says he must win to be afforded time
New Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has said he will need to win matches in order to earn time and create his own identity at the club.
The Portuguese tactician, who left Sporting CP to become Erik ten Hag’s successor at Old Trafford, was speaking during his first interview with the Premier League club.
"We know that we need time, but we have to win time. To win time is to win games. But the most important thing for me is identity. So since day one we will start with our identity," the 39-year-old said.
"Of course we are going to prepare the games, but we will focus a lot in our game model. How to play, how to press, these small things, small details.
"You cannot go 100% on every detail because it will be confusing for the players. So if I have to say one thing, my main goal, my first goal, is identity."
Amorim is the seventh different manager to take charge of the club since Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013 and will face a trip to Ipswich Town in the league on 24 November on his United debut.
But the former Portugal international added that having a young squad will not be an excuse if he fails to get the desired results in the short term.
"I don't want to say that we need time because we are a young team. They are prepared. They are prepared to cope with the demands of playing for United. They should be because they are here," Amorim said.
"We know it will take time, but we have to start since day one without fear, without thinking that they are not used to playing like this. They will start on the first day with our idea, no matter what. That's the goal."
New Manchester United boss Amorim says he needs to win to be afforded time
New Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has said that he will need to win matches in order to win time and create his own identity at the club.
The Portuguese tactician, who left Sporting CP to become Erik ten Hag’s successor at Old Trafford, was speaking during his first interview with the Premier League club.
"We know that we need time, but we have to win time. To win time is to win games. But the most important thing for me is identity. So since day one we will start with our identity," the 39-year-old said.
"Of course we are going to prepare the games, but we will focus a lot in our game model. How to play, how to press, these small things, small details."
"You cannot go 100% on every detail because it will be confusing for the players. So if I have to say one thing, my main goal, my first goal, is identity," he said.
Amorim is the seventh different manager to take charge of the club since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013 and will face a trip to Ipswich Town in the league on 24 November on his United managerial debut.
But the former Portugal international also added that having a young squad will not be an excuse for not getting the desired results in the short term.
"I don't want to say that we need time because we are a young team. They are prepared. They are prepared to cope with the demands of playing for United. They should be because they are here," Amorim said.
"We know it will take time, but we have to start since day one without fear, without thinking that they are not used to playing like this. They will start on the first day with our idea, no matter what. That's the goal."
Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout
Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.
Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.
Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.
Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.
While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.
Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.
Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.
Data Debrief: Clinically done
For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.
Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).
Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
