For the second successive home game Guiseley faced much fancied opposition, this time  in  the form of Gloucester City, but a battling performance saw the Lions overturn an early deficit to clinch their first three points of the season. Read how they did it in our match report sponsored by BuildADrive.com.

On a glorious sunny afternoon at Nethermoor the Guiseley defence was seemingly still in the dressing rooms as Jordan Young stole in to slot past slot past Jordan Amissah with just two minutes gone.

The Guiseley response was almost immediate as George Cantrill whipped in an inviting ball that Jake Hull got his head to only to see Gloucester keeper Jake Cole save his effort.

Kaine Felix was next to try his luck as he burst into the visitor’s penalty area but was crowded out by two defenders as Cole calmly collected the loose ball.

Cole was then quickly down to parry Jacob Gratton’s shot, after the striker had got in behind City’s back line, and as the ball spun loose the Gloucester defence were quick to clear their lines.

This was to be the keeper’s last action as he went to ground shortly after and limped off after treatment and was replaced by substitute goalkeeper Liam Armstrong with eighteen minutes gone.

Felix again was at the centre of the action as his ball into the box found the head of Hey only for the young midfielder’s header to be cleared from the danger area.

City finally responded just after the half hour when full back Kevin Dawson lashed in a dangerous ball that Amissah did well to parry away before the follow up effort was deflected behind for a corner.

Felix again proved to be a thorn in Gloucester’s side but Armstrong was quick to spot the danger and smother the striker’s effort on the stroke of halftime.

Guiseley began the second period as they had finished the first and their enterprising play finally paid dividends on 62 minutes as a shot was blocked and the ball fell to the impressive Lebrun Mbeka who hit it home from just inside the area, leaving Armstrong clutching at thin air in the process.

As they sensed a second goal might be in the offing, Gratton somehow managed to dribble along the dead ball line but was unable to create an opening for one of his colleagues.

However, neat interplay between Mbeka and Cantrill saw the latter slip the ball into the path of Regan Hutchinson where his ball across the six yard box was sliced into his own net by Tom Harrison.

Shortly after the home side nearly grabbed a third after Mbeka left several defenders in his wake but his cross was just out of Gratton’s reach.

Having come from behind the Lions suffered a potentially setback as Mbeka limped off injured and was replaced by Bailey Thompson with eleven minutes to go.

But Felix had other ideas in holding off three defenders before his foray came to an end with a timely Gloucester intervention, after which he was given a rousing send off as Adam Haw replaced him with three minutes to go.

Haw added energy and some impetus to the forward line with his harrying of defenders together with Hey and Hutchinson ensured that despite five minutes of added time Guiseley managed the game out to a conclusion and register their first win of the season.

A win that moves them six places up the table in to tenth place.

Images from todays game can be found here

Russ O’Neill post match

Attendance: 523

Team:

1-Jordan Amissah

2-Jake Hull

3-Brad Nicholson

4-Prince Ekpolo

5-Hamza Bencherif

6-Lebrun Mbeka (Thompson 79)

7-Kaine Felix (Haw 87)

8-George Cantrill

9-Jacob Gratton

10-Lewis Hey

11-Regan Hutchinson

Subs:

12-Oliver Metcalf

14-Bailey Thompson

15-Andy Hollins

16-Jake Day

17-Adam Haw