Harrogate Town 'worked all week' on new formation which helped put Rochdale AFC to the sword

Knowing that he would be without a host of influential players and having done his homework on Saturday’s opponents, the Sulphurites chief set his side up in a new-look 4-4-2 system at Spotland.

Town have lined-up in a 4-2-3-1 formation of late, but with free-scoring attacking midfielders Alex Pattison and Matty Daly among 11 squad members ruled out at the weekend, Weaver opted to change tactics.

Harrogate took the field with skipper Josh Falkingham in the anchor role at the base of what looked like a midfield diamond, with George Thomson to his right but playing far narrower than Danny Grant on the opposite flank, who operated more like a left-winger.

Ahead of them, Josh Coley was deployed as the tip of the diamond, just behind the front-two of Luke Armstrong and Sam Folarin.

And it worked a treat, as Town recovered from falling behind to Jake Ball’s early opener to run out convincing winners courtesy of strikes from Armstrong (2), Thomson and Folarin.

"We worked all week on the system that we played on Saturday. It took a lot of hours of watching Rochdale, there’s not many of us staff-wise, so we’ve all put in the effort to find another way to win with 11 first-team players out,” Weaver revealed.

“We thought that this [formation] could be a way to still win the game. The lads have come in and trained with energy, the ones who haven’t been playing haven’t sulked. Everyone has bought into it.

“It’s a test of little Harrogate Town, having so many first-team players out. But to come out of the blocks like that and be positive, it’s great that the practice the lads put in and their attitude made Saturday a fantastic day because they have carried it out onto the pitch, carried out their roles brilliantly.

"We tried to leave two players upfield today and be bold and I think it proved a problem for Rochdale because every time, there was an out-ball over the top with the pace we had. We could counter-attack with real pace, it was hurting them because I think that they were worried about all of the grass behind when they were on the attack.

"Sometimes, the best form of defence is attack and we wanted to be positive and that’s seven goals in two league games now.”

Town arrived in Greater Manchester 20th in the League Two standings, just above Rochdale and only two points clear of the relegation zone.

Had they lost, results elsewhere could have dropped them into the bottom two. But, the combination of their own victory and defeats for Colchester, Gillingham and Hartlepool mean that Weaver and his men end the day five points clear of 23rd place.

Saturday also saw the Sulphurites record their first away league success since beating Gillingham 2-0 on August 16 and chalk up consecutive League Two victories for the first time this season.