Harrogate Town opinion: Pleased to see women's team back at Wetherby Road

The hapless defeat to a Colchester United team with only one win to their name at the weekend cemented Harrogate Town’s seemingly unstoppable momentum towards League Two’s relegation places.

There was a time when we could comfort ourselves with the fact that there were at least two teams worse than ourselves in this division, but now we’re only goal-difference away from being one of those unfortunates. Going on recent form, we’re already there: only the pound is plummeting faster.

If you can’t beat your early-season relegation rivals, you certainly shouldn’t capitulate half-heartedly to them, yet two sloppy goals meant Saturday’s match was lost before half-time. A team struggling to score even one goal in a game certainly isn’t going to come back from that.

This is a Town side that’s lost every fixture in which our opponents have scored this season, and I’m including the penalty shoot-out defeat to Everton Under-21s in these figures. Both of our draws have been goalless, and we’ve only scored first in a match during our solitary two wins-to-nil. It’s a pretty depressing time to be a Harrogate fan.

Last week I asked if it was going to get any better than Town being ‘nearly-men’ after our home defeats to Bradford and Salford. At the moment there’s no evidence to believe it will.

The team that got us this far rarely buckled under pressure and never knew when it was beaten. On the basis of what I've seen so far, once we go a goal down heads seem to drop, and there just doesn't seem to be the belief that we can pull the situation back.

That's why a fit Josh Falkingham is so important to the side as a link to that winning mentality of the past. We desperately need someone in midfield who can keep possession, pull the team up the pitch and lead in a vocal sense.

One man doesn't make a team and it may not be enough, but it would be a start. Warren Burrell should also be in the team to provide that continuity and experience.

So, this Saturday's visit of another of our fellow strugglers, Hartlepool United, becomes a must-win if we're in any way serious about continuing our journey in the Football League.

Amidst the gloom of the weekend, there was one beacon of shining light in the form of England women's victory over the World Champions USA.

What an unmissable spectacle it turned out to be, with both teams going for it in the most thrilling fashion in front of a full Wembley stadium. It was the perfect antidote to the recent turgid performances by the England men's team.

With women's football on the up, and teams like Chelsea and Arsenal opening up their stadia to their women's teams, it seems strange that Harrogate Town Women have found themselves going the other way in recent years: moving away from playing home games at Wetherby Road towards finding themselves out in the sticks at Rossett School.

So the club deserves great credit for arranging the team’s next fixture to compliment the Hartlepool match this coming Saturday. The hope is that fans will stay on following the men's game at 1pm to watch the women play Chester-le-Street afterwards from 3.15pm.

And even if you can't bear watching the men at the moment, you can come along after for free. Am I allowed to say I'm currently looking forward to this more than the pressure of the game preceding it?!

It won't always be possible to arrange fixtures to coincide and I realise this may be a one-off in terms of the women's team, however now the pitch issues have been resolved, it's time to bring Town Ladies home to Wetherby Road on a permanent basis.