Harrogate Town 1-4 Stafford Rangers

Harrogate Town went down to a heavy home defeat by Stafford Rangers in Blue Square North, a defeat that left them third-from-bottom of the table.

Nick Wellecomme, Jermaine Johnson (2) and Bobby Wilson scored for Stafford, with Brian Dutton replying for Town.

Town assistant manager Kevin Sharp told BBC York: "[It was a poor performance] from start to finish, to be honest.

"We always expect a good start, and today we didn't start well at all and it continued until the final whistle."

Town's management were so unhappy they completed their substitutions at half-time, but it made little difference to the way the game went.

"Today (the players) did not win their individual battles, and that was the reason we lost the game," Sharp added.

Town are only two points shy of a mid-table place, but at the same time they are, on results, one place off the bottom, Farsley Celtic having been docked 10 points to start with.

Despite this, Sharp believes the squad is capable of staying in Blue Square North.

"[The job] is obviously relatively new to me and Simon [Weaver, manager], we inherited a totally new squad on a limited budget, and we still believe in these players.

"What we saw pre-season... doesn't make them bad players overnight and we still believe we can progress and get Harrogate Town further up the league."