Harrogate manager Simon Weaver has admitted his team must up the entertainment levels if they are going to attract bigger crowds to Wetherby Road.

The high-flying Sulphurites were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw at home to a Stevenage side who are now without a win in nine games.

A crowd of 1,667 watched the contest with Weaver wanting to see greater attacking adventure from his side to get more fans through the turnstiles for future contests.

He did concede, however, that the result represented a point gained from his team’s “worst performance of the season” after the visitors had seen efforts from Brad Barry, Jamie Reid and Bruno Andrade cleared off the line.

The Harrogate chief reasoned: “They slowed the game down a bit and, whilst I understand why they would do that, it has to be nipped in the bud by the officials.

“But we also have to be brighter in games like this, because the only way we are going to grow support in the area is to play attacking football and that’s what we want to do.

“I expected a lot more from us and it was our worst performance of the season. We didn’t back ourselves on the ball enough and Stevenage snuffed us out.

“We can also count ourselves lucky because we needed goal-line clearances to get a point at home. Everybody knows we like to have an energetic approach to games and we had two days off this week after our game at Crawley on Tuesday, but it’s how you rest and how you come back from the rest and we demand intensity, which we didn’t get after the first 10 minutes of this match.

“We didn’t show any composure or trickery and I thought Scott Cuthbert was dominant for them at the back. They were resilient, which is credit to them.

“They also caused us a few problems with balls into the box that we didn’t deal with so, overall, it’s a point gained, because we let the performance fizzle out in front of our fans.”

Veteran centre-back Rory McArdle was replaced as a precautionary measure at half-time by Weaver, who explained: “Rory was feeling his groin and he’s too big a player for us to risk further damage.”

Stevenage boss Alex Revell agreed with Weaver about Cuthbert’s colossal presence, but also claimed with justification that his team should have left North Yorkshire celebrating their first victory since a 2-0 triumph at Bristol Rovers six weeks ago.

He said: “There was only one team that deserved to win the game and I don’t think anybody at the match could tell you any differently. We had three chances cleared off the line and the intensity of our game showed the togetherness of the players, which was great to see.

“I’m really proud of them, because Harrogate is a tough place to come and my players showed great energy and showed people what this means to them. Last week, when we lost 4-0 to Forest Green, they got questioned about the biggest thing you can in football – their spirit – but there were no questions about that this week.

“That game was a massive blip, because we’ve had lots of games that have been close, but this performance showed we are back. The fans who came here were brilliant and they left knowing that the players gave them everything.

“I thought Scott Cuthbert put in one of the best performances I have seen from him in a very long time. He was outstanding.

“Luke Armstrong is a real handful and we were playing a team who everybody talks about for their energy, desire and intensity, but we more than matched that. We also defended their set-pieces well, because they are a real threat from them.”