Guiseley Ladies made the trip to Barnsley ladies in hope to secure 3 important points and also have revenge in the FA cup loss 2 weeks ago at Nethermoor. Due to the Barnsley formation and line up, Guiseley decided to match them with a 3-5-2 formation. Jamie-Lea Smith made her long awaited debut in the Central midfield with Alarna Fuller and Katie Jesson. Neely Murrell made her first league start partnering Caroline Hulme upfront. Caroline Cropp and Abigail Barker played as attacking full backs and a strong line up of Katie Matthews, Laura Danskin and Alannah Jones as the 3 centre backs.

Guiseley started brightly, pressing from the early minutes. Caroline Hulme had an early chance breaking onto a clever ball from Neely Murrell, the shot just going wide of top right hand corner delivering early warning to Barnsley

Barnsley pushed on but struggled to break down the Guiseley wings, leading their attacks through the centre of the field. Barnsley had a couple of early shots which were comfortably saved by Boswell with support of the defence causing Barnsley to shoot under pressure. Good link up play from full back Caroline Cropp and Alarna fuller lead to Murrell breaking and making some great runs deep into the Barnsley defence.

It was end to end play with Barnsley again having chances from free kicks, with their no 9 making sharp runs through the middle. Danskin, Matthews and A Jones all working solidly together to limit the Barnsley attacks. Guiseley took a well-deserved lead after Caroline Hulme played a ball wide to Cropp who whipped in a cross which was cleared by a Barnsley defender, only for Fuller to latched onto it to smash it into the back of the net!

1-0 Guiseley

Guiseley continued to press with Katie Jesson also supporting the forwards pressing for a second goal with the support of wingback Barker winning a corner. Fuller whipped in a pinpoint corner to the far post, Cropp connecting and narrowly missing the top corner with a fine effort. Barnsley broke quickly from the keepers kick and threaded the ball through to their strong no10 who turned and drove towards goal, breaking away from the defence Boswell advanced but the striker released the shot, Boswell getting a hand to the ball but couldn’t stop the shot landing the top corner.

Barnsley given confidence by their goal continued to press with what felt like endless throw ins, evolving in a corner with minutes to go till half time. The corner was neatly delivered into the edge if the box to the crowd of Barnsley players, who smashed the ball into the bottom corner leaving Guiseley, stunned to be behind after great possession and a great first half performance.

HT 2-1

Both teams came out fighting in the second half, Guiseley very much keeping possession well and again working hard to limit the Barnsley attacks, both fullbacks Cropp and Barker worked hard to get forward and support the defence. Barnsley did struggle to break through the Guiseley defence although they did have a couple of shots which were calmly dealt with by Boswell, with most of the attacking play lead by Guiseley.

Guiseley had narrow misses and top goal scorer Caroline Hulme was unlucky to add to her impressive goal tally of 10 goals so far this season, with the Barnsley keeper reacting well on a few occasions. Guiseley finally got their break with a fantastic ball from Neely Murrell to meet Alarna Fuller’s run who took a couple of touches to pull the keeper out wide to then slot into the opposite corner pulling the score to 2-2.

Both sides made changes to bring on fresh legs with the game sticking to a high tempo throughout, A Jones made way for Polly Fildes who went to left wingback with Cropp moving into the back three. This was shortly followed by Leanne Warren coming on for Abi Barker who had put in another great performance. Barnsley struggled to make much more of an impact on the game with Guiseley pushing for the winning goal. In the final minutes Sally Jones came on for Katie Jesson in midfield with Guiseley having their final chance of the game. A great through ball to Caroline Hulme saw her release a fierce shot with the Barnsley keeper pulling off the save of the match to the amazement of both sides. The game ended 2-2 with Guiseley feeling frustrated to not be walking away with all three points, however a point away from home was well deserved and all the girls contributed to a fantastic team performance and showed great character to fight back from 2-1 down at half time.

Assistant Manager Scott Evans said after the game “It was a great team performance today, from Erin through to Caz up top everyone worked hard for each other and it was a well-deserved point that on another day could have been all 3.

We started brightly and settled into playing a new 3-5-2 formation with ease as credit must go to the players who implemented it really well. There were plenty of positives to take forward into the next game, again we show great character to come from 2-1, this fighting spirit epitomises the girl’s attitude all season and they got the reward with a point away from home.

Looking ahead we have a great squad of players who have shown they can step up the plate when called upon, there are a few selection headaches for myself and Liam, but it’s a healthy position to be in and we are both excited about the forthcoming fixtures. Woman of the match was Alarna Fuller, it was hard to pick as everyone was immense but her two goals pipped it”

Next Sunday the Ladies take on Scunthorpe at Nethermoor – KO 1pm

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