Boro pick up a point in North Yorkshire after a tough battle in challenging conditions...

After last Sunday’s FA Cup heroics, the focus swiftly turns to the league with a trip to North Yorkshire. Steve Evans opted for the same starting eleven which defeated Aston Villa, as new signings Jake Forster-Caskey, Daryl Horgan and Jonathan Tomkinson made the bench.

The opening ten minutes of the game was nothing short of scrappy as both sides attempted to get the ball down and play their football in the wet and windy conditions. Jake Reeves’ corner found the head of Carl Piergianni who nodded it down to Dan Sweeney, but the big centre-half could only tap it wide.

Soon after, Harrogate were applying pressure on the Boro defence and Luke Armstrong was able to latch onto a loose ball. The Sulphurites’ striker was through on goal with just the keeper to beat, but Taye Ashby-Hammond was quick off his line to deny.

Harrogate earned themselves a free kick just outside the area, as Jordan Roberts was booked for a reckless challenge. George Thomson got a shot off from the free kick, but his effort was fired way wide.

The majority of the first half saw very little action as the weather conditions appeared to get the better of both sides. The rain began to pour which made for a rather miserable afternoon. Danny Rose had a pop shot from twenty-five yards but fired over.

As the second half got underway, Both sides looked far more energetic as an opening goal began to look more likely to occur. Luke Norris skipped past two defenders before crossing it into Jake Taylor, whose flick-on found Luther James-Wildin at the back post, but he could only tap it into the side-netting.

A few moments later, Dan Sweeney collected the ball just inside the Harrogate half before trying his luck from distance, but his effort sailed wide of the post.

Just before the hour mark, the deadlock was finally broken after a challenging sixty minutes. Max Clark’s corner caused all sorts of problems for the Harrogate defence as Terence Vancooten’s header fell to the feet of Carl Piergianni who fired home to open the scoring.

Straight after the goal, Evans made four changes as new signings Jake Forster-Caskey and Daryl Horgan, as well as Dean Campbell and Jamie Reid replaced Luke Norris, Jordan Roberts, Jake Taylor and Jake Reeves.

Jake Forster-Caskey’s impressive corner-taking immediately became apparent as his delivery found the head of Carl Piergianni whose was well kept out by Pete Jameson.

With fifteen minutes to go, Harrogate levelled the scoring after a dominant spell for Boro. A superb cross found the head of the Sulphurites’ top scorer Luke Armstrong who nodded home to grab the equaliser.

Stevenage immediately looked to go back in front as they played it around the Harrogate area. Dean Campbell laid it off to Max Clark who fired low and hard from distance, but Pete Jameson stretched across goal to deny.

Harrogate also looked determined to find a winner as they were putting Boro under some real pressure. Danny Grant turned inside the box and fired on goal, but Carl Piergianni stood on the line to clear the danger and save his side from going a goal down.

In the near-freezing conditions, the fourth official revealed there would be four additional minutes. Neither side managed to carve out a decisive chance as the referee blew his final whistle. A point was picked up on the road ahead of a top-of-the-table clash next Saturday.

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