Goals from Tom Pratt, Gabriel Johnson, Kallan Murphy and Prince Ekpolo helped Guiseley secure an impressive 4-0 victory over fellow play-off chasers Matlock Town at Nethermoor on Tuesday night, writes Cayden Sands.
Both sides arrived at the fixture just outside the top five, with this result meaning the Lions leapfrog the Gladiators and a handful of other sides, managing to gain a spot in the play-off places up to this point.
The game started on an equal footing, with both sides managing to create plenty of chances early on as they looked to gain the advantage. The most notable of which came on seven minutes for the hosts after Murphy was played through and found himself one on one with Saul Deeney, but the forward was unable to capitalise on this effort and could only see it go well wide of the mark.
Guiseley continued to be on the front foot and played some promising football, leading to another chance that saw Murphy and Joe Stacey link up to provide Johnson with an excellent chance, but the usually prolific goalscorer would narrowly miss on this occasion.
However, the Lions wouldn’t have to wait long before eventually taking the lead, resisting some pressure from the hosts before Ollie Battersby made a great clearance that found Johnson, who took the ball up the pitch before laying it off to Pratt, whose effort curled past a hopeless Deeney to give the hosts the lead against the run of play in that moment.
Matlock looked to recover quickly and piled plenty of pressure on the Lions’ back line as the half progressed, but the likes of Reece Kendall and Jameel Ible held firm, allowing the hosts to go into half time a goal to the good, though still with plenty of work to do if they wanted to consolidate this winning position.
The Gladiators began the second half in a bid to make a point, quickly creating chances and again testing Guiseley’s defenders, and an equaliser would have been certain had it not been for the heroics of Battersby, the keeper making a superb double save not long after the restart that ensured the Lions remained in front.
The hosts recovered from this spell and managed to build on their first half performance, doubling their lead on 57 minutes after Leigh Whelan managed some great hold up play before playing the ball to Johnson, who converted his chance, giving the player one supporter referred to as the ‘Guiseley Messi’ another goal to celebrate in what has been an unbelievable return to Nethermoor.
From there, Guiseley’s mission was simply to maintain the lead, an objective they fulfilled in some style, allowing the visitors no room to convert their chances, but still taking their own when Murphy found himself in a position to go around Deeney, a task he succeeded in before curling the ball into the net from a very difficult angle, sealing victory for the Lions.
However, added time went on far longer than many expected, allowing the hosts to have one more chance at the end, a Callum Chippendale free kick that was deflected before falling to the path of Ekpolo, whose effort from distance found its way into the bottom right-hand corner to get Guiseley’s fourth and finish up an incredible display that sees the Lions move into the play-off positions, much to the joy of the supporters.
Guiseley AFC 4-0 Matlock Town | Tuesday 21st November 2023 | Nethermoor
Attendance: 528
Team: 1. Ollie Battersby, 2. Ollie Brown, 3. Jordi Nsaka, 4. Leigh Whelan (90′ Chippendale), 5. Jameel Ible (C), 6. Reece Kendall (C), 7. Tom Pratt, 8. Prince Ekpolo, 9. Kallan Murphy (81′ Denton), 10. Gabriel Johnson and 11. Joe Stacey (81′ Moore).
Subs: 12. Courtney Meppen-Walters, 14. Tom Denton, 15. Callum Chippendale, 16. Kofi Moore and 17. Jake Forshaw.
