Man-of-the-match Alex Purver crowned a superb performance scoring the goal that gave Guiseley three precious points that opens up a five point gap between the Lions and third bottom FC United of Manchester.

Understandably, there was palpable relief at the final whistle that the Lions had finally registered their first win since they had put a dampener on Park Avenue’s play-off ambitions on New Year’s Day at Horsfall.

From the opening salvos it looked as though the Nethermoor men were intent on gaining revenge for the single goal defeat at Curzon Ashton just over two weeks ago.

But until Purver’s 76th minute goal it looked like a case of déjà vu, for  as with the game at the Tameside Stadium the men in white shirts dominated the first half hour without getting the breakthrough their play deserved.

During which time Scott Garners powerful header came back off the bar and Joel Senior did well to clear Kingsley James effort off the line and the Nash had blocked or got bodies in the way of everything  that the Lions had thrown at them.

Add to this  and the Nash blocking shots and getting bodies in the way of just about everything the Lions threw at them it looked like a case of history repeating itself.

But even the loss of lively striker Lewis Archer, who had led the line superbly up to that point, just before the break failed to dent the home sides resolve andwhen his replacement Kayode Odejayi had the ball in the net early in the second half his joy was shortlived by an offside flag.

Undaunted the home side kept pressing and ere eventiually rewarded in the 76thy minute when they were awarded a throw in on the right and the ball found its way into the area where Purver controlled the ball under pressure before shooting under Nash keeper Cameron Mason much to the relief of the home support who had last seen their team win a league game at Nethermoor last October.

The Lions win proved even more crucial in the light of the other results this evening here FCUM drew  3-3 at home with  York City, despite holding a 3-1 lead at one stage and Ashton United’s 2-1 reverse at Stockport now leaves them, together with FCUM five and six points respectively adrift of safety at the foot of the table while cash-strapped Nuneaton already looked doomed:

Team:

1 Dewhurst

2 Halls

3 Cantrill

4 Purver

5 Langley

6 Garner

7 Felix (Morrison 65)

8 Barkers

9 Archer (Odejayi 41)

10 James

11 Dyche (Moyo 90)

Subs:

12 Moyo

14 Digie

15 Morrison

16 Clayton

17 Odejayi