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Harrogate prevented Doncaster from extending their one-point lead at the top of the Sky Bet League Two table as Ellis Taylor and Josh March goals secured a 2-0 home win.
The defeat meant Yorkshire rivals Rovers have now failed to beat the Sulphurites in all five league meetings between the two clubs, even though Simon Weaver’s men went into this latest contest on the back of three straight defeats without scoring a goal.
It took 27 minutes for Harrogate to open the scoring as Taylor claimed only his second senior goal by meeting James Daly’s left-wing cross with a clinical stooping header.
The hosts then doubled their advantage in first-half stoppage time when Jasper Moon hoofed the ball up the pitch and March sprinted clear of a flat-footed visitors’ defence before diverting Jay McGrath’s last-ditch challenge past goalkeeper Ted Sharman-Lowe.
Doncaster made a flurry of second-half substitutes to try and find an avenue back into the game.
But, other than a deflected long-range McGrath drive, could not trouble home keeper James Belshaw and left North Yorkshire without scoring on their league travels for the first time since Boxing Day.
Weaver: There’s a lot of pride at this club
Harrogate manager Simon Weaver said:
“I’m really happy – ecstatic in fact. We gave the players three days off because I felt they needed a breather and we wanted to win this game so much.
“We don’t like losing and we went into this match having lost the last two games 1-0 to set-piece goals, which has been disappointing, but I think you get what you deserve when you play with the level of intensity we did tonight. We changed to a more traditional 4-4-2 and you can’t carry passengers in that formation and we certainly didn’t.
“There were spells when we were under siege, which is understandable because they are top of the league and have good players, but our concentration levels throughout were exemplary and we made sure we were studious to see the game through. This game meant a lot to all of the players in front of the Sky cameras.
“There’s a lot of pride at this football club and the fans’ reaction to the final whistle was brilliant.”
McCann: We didn’t get going in attack
Doncaster manager Grant McCann said:
“I thought we were good for long spells of the game. We had a lot of territory, but were not as clinical as we have been.
“We got into the final third quite easily but, then, our crosses were blocked too easily and we didn’t get enough shots off. I thought we were in control of the game until their first goal, when we should have been awarded a free-kick just before.
“But the referee ended up playing advantage, which we didn’t want because it was on the halfway line, not on the edge of the 18-yard box. We’ve then gone on to lose the ball and it has ended up in the back of our net.
“Their second goal was also a bit unfortunate as their player was put through by a ricochet, but he’s still got in between our three players to score, so it was a frustrating evening. We improved in the second half, but it wasn’t to be and we just didn’t get going from an attacking point of view.”
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