Accrington Stanley were the dominant team for the majority of the game, but Harrogate were able to claw their way back into the tie to threaten a late comeback. However, in the end the firepower of the Accrington frontline was too much for Harrogate who left themselves with too much of a mountain to climb.
Jack Nolan had the first big chance of the game as the visitors started brightly. Superb footwork from Kody Ededoyin in the corner saw his clever flick find Lewis Trickett. Trickett was then able to cut the ball back to Nolan who was in space inside the box, but he fired over.
Accrington Stanley threatened down the left-hand side again when Lewis Shipley’s low cross was flashed across the box, but Josh Woods couldn’t direct his attempt on target.
Accrington’s early dominance paid dividends as Trickett was the first to react to a loose ball in the box before drilling his effort past Lewis Thomas in the Harrogate goal to give them the lead a few minutes before the half hour mark.
Accrington Stanley doubled their lead just a few minutes later when Ededoyin guided his header home from close range after he was picked out spectacularly by Nolan.
Town’s first meaningful chance of the game resulted in a goal as they managed to pull one back through Sam Folarin with ten minutes to go before half-time. His shot looped over the stranded Jack Mcintyre against the run of play to make it 1-2.
Just as Harrogate got their foot back into the game, Ededoyin restored Accrington Stanley’s two goal cushion a minute or so later. Town were caught in transition as Ededoyin was played through on goal by Nolan before calmly slotting the ball into the bottom right corner to secure his brace and make it 1-3.
The visitors caught Town in transition yet again in the early stages of the second half, Ededoyin got his third goal of the game after cutting in from the left-hand side of the box before finding the bottom right corner again with pinpoint accuracy.
Harrogate pulled a goal back a few minutes before the hour mark after Joe Mattock’s clever freekick on the edge of the box went low and found a home into the bottom left-hand corner to the surprise of the Accrington Stanley defence, after some tidy footwork from Folarin initially won the set-piece for the hosts.
Accrington threatened with a freekick of their own soon after, but Thomas was able to palm away Nolan’s curling freekick before it nestled into the top corner.
Town’s fightback continued through that man Sam Folarin again who was on hand at the back post to finish well after a deflected low cross fell into his path, and Folarin made no mistakes when finishing to give the hosts a lifeline with around fifteen minutes to go.
Substitute Finn O’Boyle had a good opportunity to equalise late on when he latched onto a good flick on by Luke Armstrong, but he was unable to get enough lift on his attempt to trouble the goalkeeper.
This would prove costly as Accrington Stanley put a chaotic game to bed in the 90th minute after an audacious chip from Trickett left the ‘keeper in no man’s land as the visitors survived a late scare to book their place into the knockouts of the EFL Trophy, winning 3-5.
Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver felt his side left themselves with “far too much to do” after his side went 1-4 down.
“The tone was set really in the first twenty minutes where you could hear a pin drop because of our performance, you know we were well short. A mile away from the lads that played on Saturday.
“Statistically to this date in Football League fixtures this year we’ve got the second-best defensive record in the league, but tonight was a far cry from that.
“We didn’t change the tactics because we wanted to give the lads who played tonight a go at what we’ve been doing in Football League fixtures, but some lads took their chance better than others did.” He said.
Harrogate Town are back in league action this Saturday where they take on Stockport as they look to bounce back from the disappointment they suffered on Tuesday.
Town’s last group game in the EFL Trophy is set to take place on the 14th of November when they travel to play Carlisle.
