Play-off chasing Guiseley saw off Gainsborough Trinity at Nethermoor on Tuesday as they extended their unbeaten run to consolidate their place among the top five.
Manager Mark Bower retained the starting line-up that had put five first-half goals past Vauxhall Motors on Saturday and the team responded, goals from Alex Johnson, Adam Boyes and Wayne Brooksby finally getting the better of a dogged and determined Trinity side.
The home side were first to threaten when Boyes won a tussle with Dominic Roma and played the ball across the six-yard box for Alex Johnson, who was denied by a superb interception from Josh Lacey to clear the danger.
Chris Bateson brought a good save from Steve Drench following a crisp passing move from the visitors.
The Lions thought they had taken the lead on the half-hour when Phil Barnes in the Trinity goal did well to get a hand to Wayne Brooksby’s shot, but when Boyes tapped home the loose ball his joy was short-lived as the goal was disallowed by the assistant’s offside flag.
Three minutes later though, the slippery Johnson wriggled free of his marker and shot low past Barnes into the corner for the opener.
Not that Trinity took the setback lightly, as Greg Young’s powerful header was cleared off the line by Andy Holdsworth.
Both sides were playing the ball about as Trinity belied their seventeenth position and tested the home side, but they looked to have been undone on 56 minutes when a telepathic ball from Alex Johnson bisected the Gainsborough defence for Boyes to run on and place his shot wide of Barnes.
The home side’s joy was tempered straight from the restart as former Lions striker Darryn Stamp lobbed Drench from 35 yards out on the left to put Trinity back in the game.
Buoyed by the goal, the visitors exerted a period of sustained pressure, which the home defence did well to repel, before the game was settled on 67 minutes by Brooksby, who latched on to a ball from Alex Johnson to shoot past Barnes, although the shot took a slight deflection on its way into the net.
Johnson was replaced by his namesake, Oli, with seven minutes remaining and the substitute nearly grabbed a fourth with some delicate footwork only to be denied at the last minute by Roma and Barnes, who combined to block his effort.
The win keeps the Lions in fifth place, although they have opened up a three-point gap between themselves and Boston United, who drew 3-3 at Colwyn Bay this evening but have played a game more. Altrincham strengthened their position with the 6-1 thrashing of Workington at Borough Park while leaders AFC Telford suffered another reverse, this time a surprise 2-0 defeat at Oxford City. North Ferriby’s game at Stalybridge was postponed .
Mark Bower post-match interview
Danny Boshell’s post-match interview
Att: 506
Team:
1-Drench
2-Holdsworth
3- Meynell
4-Hall
5-Ellis
6-Lawlor
7-Brooksby 67
8-Boshell (Potts, 90)
9-Boyes 56 (Holsgrove, 88)
10- Johnson (A) 33 (Johnson (O), 83)
11-Rothery
12- Johnson (O)
14-Forrest
15-Potts
16-Holsgrove
18-Dickinson