Match Report

Guiseley sneaked a share of the points in the closing minutes as two of the division’s play-off hopefuls defied wind, rain and a quagmire of a pitch to provide an enthralling end-to-end contest for an impressive crowd of 646.

Guiseley team: Skiba;  Hay, Ellis, Sturdy, Merris;  Fernandez (Pugh, 40), Crooks, Dunning (Dunne, 76), Taylforth (Cotterill, 90);  Wilford, Hanson.

Fleetwood, of course, still entertain hopes of overhauling Witton Albion for the automatic promotion spot, and they came into this game on the back of a tremendous 3-0 win at Wincham Park. But Guiseley themselves possess an excellent recent record on the road and they were buoyed by the inclusion of Lee Crooks, their new signing from Rochdale, who became the 38th player to pull on the Lions’ shirt this season. Sean Taylforth made his first start on the left in a midfield bravely containing two genuine wingers.

The home side were first to show, Jerome Watt sending a hopeful cross over Piőtr Skiba’s bar.  After eight minutes Aron Wilford, restored up front, broke into the Fleetwood box to earn Guiseley’s opening corner and Jonathan Fernandez’s testing kick was cleared with difficulty.

Watts struck a shot wide and Kieran Walmsley’s cross was nodded to safety by Dave Merris, but in the sixteenth minute the visitors took a surprise lead.  As the play broke from a Fleetwood corner Wilford sent Taylforth away down the wing, and when Danny Hurst could only parry his shot the ball cannoned back into the net.  The announcer (and the Unibond website) credited the goal to James Hanson, and let’s just say that neither he nor Fleetwood defender Phil Robinson is likely to argue.

A minute later a neat through ball from Wilford saw Hurst out quickly to clear, then a Hanson foray down the left won a corner. Fleetwood, however, were finding space behind the visitors’ back four and former Guiseley man Phil Denney beat Danny Ellis for speed only to hit wide. Then Walmsley struck a cross out of play before his long free kick found Denney on the far post, a chance the striker could only head harmlessly over.

Fleetwood were beginning to show their mettle, and with the wind becoming stronger Guiseley found their goal under increasing pressure. Skiba clawed one deep corner away and flicked another out of danger before foiling Bell with a superb diving catch.  It couldn’t last, and almost on the half hour a long diagonal ball found Watt in space on the Fleetwood left and as Nathan Hay moved to close him down he unleashed a cross-cum-shot that dipped viciously in at the far post.

Guiseley fought back, and a succession of corners - dropped expertly under the bar by Taylforth and Fernandez - had Fleetwood scurrying.  Jamie Milligan was on hand to head away at the far post, Robinson cleared off the line, Simon Sturdy nodded high and a Crooks effort was diverted over by Shaun Beeley.  When the home side broke, Skiba had to be alert to deal with more probing crosses.

Another determined run by Taylforth led to Wilford’s teeing up Crooks for an unproductive twenty-five yarder, but five minutes from the interval Fleetwood went in front.  As Guiseley reorganized after Lee Pugh replaced the injured Fernandez, their concentration seemed to waiver. Bell was allowed to burst through and, with Skiba in no-man’s-land, he slid the ball in from an acute angle.

The second half saw no let-up in the frenetic pace; when Ellis and Denney tangled, the latter’s shot was blocked by Skiba and Walmsley turned the rebound wide.  Then a Taylforth cross skidded across the goalmouth mud with no takers, Wilford headed Crooks’s free kick narrowly wide, and after Taylforth lost the ball Skiba had to be out smartly at the feet of Bell.

Fleetwood continued to pepper Guiseley’s goal with crosses and set pieces - Walmsley was proving a master - but Skiba and his defenders held firm. The Lancastrians introduced all their subs at ten-minute intervals, Moran, Reid and Mercer replacing Denney, Watt and Milligan, while Guiseley brought on Damian Dunne for Richard Dunning, who had run himself ragged on the clinging surface.

Hanson found himself rather unluckily in the book for a determined challenge on the halfway line, and there was a spot of ‘handbagging’ in the home box as four players contested a blade of grass, but it had been a sporting if wholehearted afternoon and there was more action to come.

As the game moved into its closing stages, Hanson and Wilford combined to force a corner and it proved to be the first of several dropped on the proverbial sixpence by Taylforth. Hurst turned one over the bar, Hanson’s presence forced a wild clearance and with the Guiseley midfield mopping up everything Fleetwood were finding themselves penned in their own box.  With only two minutes left another deep Taylforth corner was cleared, the ball was worked back to the youngster at the corner of the area and he steered a low shot in via the inside of the near post.  And that was that, as both sides seemed content to play the clock down.

Result apart, there were plenty of plus points today.  Hanson was back to his best, winning most of the aerial challenges and linking well with the impressive Wilford. On the debit side, the triangle between Ellis, Sturdy and Skiba occasionally looked uncertain. As for the new boys, Merris was solid and intelligent, Crooks could well be the midfield battler we’ve lacked and Taylforth, though seeming rather lightweight at times, looks likely to ask a lot of questions down the left.