SIMON Weaver admits Colchester United did a good job in stopping his in-form Harrogate Town side before the hosts grabbed a stoppage-time winner.

Jack Muldoon finally broke the deadlock at the EnviroVent Stadium in the second minute of stoppage time, after it had looked as though the League Two clash would end in a draw.

Colchester were the better side in the first half and although Harrogate improved after the break, the U's looked worthy of a point before Muldoon struck.

READ MORE: Colchester United fans have their say on defeat at Harrogate 

Sulpharites boss Weaver told the Harrogate Town FC YouTube channel: "We weren't too scathing of the players at half-time.

"This is League Two; people watch videos, they try to stop us and they were doing a good job of it.

"They turned up with energy and performed well, so credit to them - I don't think you have to have a downer on our team just because we're not coming in two or three up.

"It's a good level and we're up against experienced pros that have got League One and League Two pedigree.

"It wasn't that we didn't anticipate a tough battle in the first half - we've got to be patient and persevere and you can't always have that state of flow, just like that.

Gazette:

"You keep going and in the second half, it's more a case of sometimes you have to go long and get seconds and build it from there.

"Once we'd done that a few times, we were able to get into a situation where we could play out from the back.

"I thought the way we played in the second half, and the stats prove it, we kept probing.

"We kept trying to get bodies in the box and prise away an opening to create a goal and I just thought we might have one more chance when the board went up and there were four minutes remaining.

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"We kept believing in the players to produce that one moment and it went in.

"It doesn't matter if it was scruffy or not, Jack Muldoon and it's a winner."

Harrogate now lie in the League Two play-off places, after losing only one of their last 11 games.

"I think belief is massive; you get some good results and players back each other across the changing room," added Weaver.

"There was a bit of frustration at half-time that we hadn't clicked into gear but there was also an appreciation of the level and who we were playing against.

"They were a well organised outfit who came here to grind out a point and possibly even more so we knew we'd have to take our time and we did leave it late but at the same time, it doesn't really matter."