Hoping to avoid the last day drama of the two previous seasons Guiseley got their first point on the board as they drew 2-2 with newcomers Ebbsfleet United at a sunny Nethermoor this afternoon.

John Rooney’s super strike gave the Lions an early lead before they were pegged back by two second half goals from Myles Weston and Darren McQueen before Reece Thompson squared matters late on to salvage a point.

Debutant striker Raul Correia had an early header just wide and McQueen should have put the visitors ahead but Jonny Maxted blocked his point blank effort and the ball bounced over the bar.

McQueen had another good opportunity shortly after but inexplicably headed wide with the goal at his mercy.

Having survived these two scares, the home side took the lead in 16 minutes when Kevan Hurst played the ball into the path of Rooney who curled a sublime shot into the top corner leaving Nathan Ashmore a mere spectator.

Jack Powell replied for the visitors and he made his way to the bye line only to be denied by Maxted at the near post.

Marcus Williams missed a crucial ball on the restart but once again McQueen failed to beat Maxted.

Luke Coulson flashed a shot across the face of goal with no takers as the visitors racked up the pressure after the restart and they were reward just after the hour when Maxted once again came to his sides rescue with a fingertip save but could only divert the ball into the path of Weston who made no mistake on 63 minutes.

Three minutes later United took the lead when Coulson was allowed to clear his lines from deep inside his own half and when the ball fell to McQueen the dimutive striker outpaced his marker before coolly slotting past Maxted.

Buoyed by the introduction of Frank Mulhern, Will Hatfield and Alex Purver in place of Correia, James Wesolowsi and Kevan Hurst the Lions finally showed some of the guile and graft that apart from Rooney seemed to have been missing from the midfield after the restart.

And it was Mulhern who was instrumental in crafting the home sides equalises as his shot came back of the upright for Connor Brown to try his luck only to see Ashmore block his effort but luckily Thompson was on hand to level matters with thirteen minutes remaining.

Although both sides had a couple of half chances during this period neither was able to find the vital touch and the game finished all square.

Team:

1 Jonny Maxted

2 Connor Brown

3 Danny Lowe

4 James Wesolowski (Purver 79)

6 Jake Lawlor

7 Kevan Hurst (Hatfield 79)

9 Reece Thompson

10 John Rooney

11 Lee Molyneux

12 Raul Correia (Mulhern 63)

20 Marcus Williams

Subs:

8 Will Hatfield

17 Alex Purver

18 Frank Mulhern

23 Danny East

25 Rob Atkinson

Adam Lockwood post match:

Reece Thompson on his first goal for the club: