Simon Weaver hails impact of substitutes in comeback Harrogate win

Harrogate boss Simon Weaver hailed the impact of substitutes Danilo Orsi and Simon Power as the pair fired his team to a 2-1 home victory over Wrexham.

The Dragons had looked on course to secure their first FA Cup victory against higher-division opposition since dropping out of the Football League in 2008 after Jordan Ponticelli’s first goal of the season gave them a 38th-minute lead.

But the benched duo left the dugout to send the Sulphurites into the second round with two second-half strikes in the space of six minutes.

When asked if their impact represented a managerial masterstroke, a modest Weaver laughed: “You can read it that way or you could say I selected the wrong team in the first place.

“We had worked on a 4-3-3 and staying patient, but we were just going sideways and backwards too much against a 4-5-1 team that dropped right off to their 18-yard box. We needed to play with a bit more pace and take the handbrake off because there was not enough energy and vigour to our game.

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“We played 4-3-3 at Leyton Orient, but they were a team who wanted to be in the ascendancy more. Wrexham were playing for set-pieces and Ben Tozer’s long throw is a massive weapon for them.

“We needed to be braver on the ball and, in that final 20 minutes, we took our chances and I thought the opposition couldn’t handle our pace. I’m delighted for the lads who came in and scored and the truth is you can’t go through a season only relying on 12 or 13 players.”

Wrexham assistant-manager Steve Parkin was left shocked that his team did not come away with at least a share of the spoils and a replay at the Racecourse Ground after feeling that the players had carried out the gameplan perfectly for long periods.

He said: “I’m disappointed because we set the team up to do a job against a very good League Two team and the players followed the gameplan pretty well. We wanted to stop their key players – both of their wide men – being dangerous and I thought we kept them reasonably quiet.

“We had a real foothold in the game, getting the goal. We allowed them some possession but nothing in very dangerous areas but, then, a mad five minutes cost us the game.

“Playing down the slope with the conditions, they were always going to have a spell in the second half but I thought we were nice and solid and had a few chances on the break, so to lose the game was frustrating. I felt we were in control of the game, if not possession, but I never envisaged losing the game.”

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