Courtney Meppen-Walters converted a late penalty to give Guiseley fans a final home game to celebrate whilst condemning Liversedge to the drop, writes Edward Robertson.
While the result had no real bearing on Guiseley’s league position, manager Paul Phillips was relieved that the spot kick helped the Lions halt their recent poor form.
“We had a couple of chances, but the end product wasn’t there. I thought we’d run out of luck, run out of quality, but in the end we got that bit of luck we needed.”
There was little pattern to the match in the early stages with neither side gaining real control of possession. An early effort from Kallan Murphy and a sublime volleyed pass from Meppen-Walters, which warranted cheers and applause from the crowd, were the two most notable events of the first half an hour.
A brilliant ball from Murphy picked out Ethan Kachosa on 30 minutes, only for his shot to be blocked by a defender. The resulting corner was headed towards goal by Meppen-Walters but cleared off the line by Ben Atkinson.
Kachosa found space on the right flank four minutes before half time and fed the ball through to Lewis Hey. However, his effort was palmed away by Liversedge goalkeeper Jordan Porter.
With relegation looming, Liversedge came out fighting for the second period. Two minutes after the break a well-placed cross from Jack Carr fell to Joe Walton but the forward could only fire over the bar.
As the visitors continued to trouble the Lions a defensive mishap allowed Walton to take possession and find former Guiseley player Nicky Walker on the edge of the area. Much to the home side’s relief, Walker blasted a crucial chance for the Sedge over the crossbar.
Scott Bakkor almost added to his tally after Kachosa’s cross found the frontman but his lunging effort only shaved the woodwork.
Walker continued to cause problems for the Lions defence. After expertly evading his marker the tricky forward volleyed towards goal. His effort was comfortably saved by academy graduate Hagie Damba, who was making his first league start for Guiseley.
With the game in the balance the deadlock was eventually broken with just five minutes left on the clock. As the ball was whipped into the six-yard box it struck a Liversedge arm. Referee Alex Sawden had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Meppen-Walters stepped up confidently to take the kick, sending Porter the wrong way, to give the Lions the lead before wheeling away to celebrate with the home crowd.
One final opportunity for Liversedge came and went when a free kick in a dangerous position was fired over by substitute Michael Stone.
It was an uplifting three points for the Lions after struggling for form in recent weeks. For rivals Liversedge it was a defeat that confirmed their drop to the division below.
Phillips was pleased that his side responded positively after a difficult couple of weeks.
“We needed a scrappy win to get out of that little rut we were in. One more game to go now, decent attendance, local derby, so we asked them to show a bit of pride, a bit of passion, and we’ve seen that, so I take my hat off to them.”
Guiseley 1-0 Liversedge | Saturday 15th April 2023 | Nethermoor
Attendance: 691
Team: 1. Hagie Damba, 2. Ethan Kachosa, 3. Kwame Boateng, 4. Ross Daly, 5. Jameel Ible, 6. Leigh Whelan, 7. Callum Chippendale (67′ Lees), 8. Lewis Hey (72′ Nejman), 9. Scott Bakkor, 10. Kallen Murphy and 11. Courtney Meppen-Walters (C).
Subs: 12. Mark Lees, 14. Lewis Gardner, 15. Ben Woods, 16. Harrison Nejman and 17. Oliwier Grzelak.
