Macclesfield Town Academy 1 – 3 Guiseley Academy
The Academy team kicked off their second season in the Conference Youth Alliance with an away trip to Macclesfield Town.
The conditions for football were perfect; the sun was shining and the pitch was immaculate. With Tom Stewart leaving to become a Morecambe Town player and Luke Porritt suffering from illness it meant debuts for former Latvia under-16 goalkeeper Pavel Matvejevs and ex-Brighouse Town full-back Dale Spink. The Academy also added the experience of Kyle Harrison to marshall the defence.
Guiseley started the brighter of the two teams and striker Redmond Lee was looking dangerous. Midway through the first half Harrison played a perfect cross field pass for Ben Whitfield to hit a hooked volley into the top corner. Two minutes later Lee produced some magic and fired home from 18 yards to make it 2-0. However, straight from kick-off Macclesfield pulled one back with a well taken free-kick from outside the box.
In the second half the young Lions picked up the pace and dominated proceedings. This pressure paid off and Lee calmly stroked home after great work from Ben Walker on the right-hand side. Despite creating a number of chances, the scoreline remained 3-1 and Guiseley secured three important points ahead of the clash with local rivals Harrogate Town at Nethermoor on Wednesday.