Simon Weaver delighted by Harrogate’s response to his half-time rocket at Marine

Harrogate boss Simon Weaver was pleased his half-time rocket fired his side up for a 5-1 FA Cup victory at seventh-tier Marine.

Chris Doyle levelled for the minnows after Abraham Odoh’s early opener, but Sam Folarin’s double as well as further goals from Rodney McDonald and Stephen Dooley completed a comprehensive win.

“I challenged them as a collective to be more ambitious than inviting trouble. It paid off and we ended up with a win,” Weaver said.

“It was fair enough that the fans booed us off at half-time because we’ve got to be better than that as a team to be under siege by Marine, no disrespect, who are a few leagues below.

“It’s the FA Cup, I know that. Poor results can happen, but by and large if the mentality’s right, which the supporters deserve, then you minimalise the chances of that happening.”

The Mersey club fought valiantly but the Sky Bet League Two side’s dominance eventually paid off.

Marine famously reached the third round for the first time in almost 30 years in the 2020-21 campaign, a run which ended with a 5-0 hammering at the hands of Premier League Tottenham.

But dreams of another fairytale cup run were emphatically dashed.

Boss Neil Young said: “I thought we were very good first half. But it was terrible defending to be 2-1 down at half-time.

“We gave another sloppy goal away for the third. When you play Football League teams, they’re ruthless at the top of the pitch and we found that out.

“What got me was the way we’ve given the goals away. After the third, we downed tools a bit and that’s unacceptable.”