Photo: Alex Daniel Photography
In an extraordinary night at Nethermoor, Guiseley registered their first win of the season at the fourteenth time of asking and in the process as they destroyed a York side who simply had no answer to the home side’s pace and power even after an enforced thirty-seven-minute break due to floodlight failure.
Guiseley debuted a new strike force in Jake Cassidy and Jermaine Hylton who were both amongst the six different players who were on the scoresheet on a night when it finally all came right for the previously beleaguered Lions.
News of the two new signings had been kept under wraps until shortly before kick off in order not to alert the Minstermen and the ploy certainly paid dividends Cassidy’s presence and poise complemented by Hyltons electric turn of pace.
Manager Adam Lockwood has once again tapped into his Oldham connections to secure Cassidy while Hylton is on loan from Swindon Town with a view to a permanent move to West Yorkshire. Elsewhere winger Adam Smith has left Nethermoor.
On their first visit to Nethermoor York’ were in the ascendancy in the first quarter as Ben Barber fired one just over the angle from thirty yards before a header into the far corner from the unmarked Matt Fry gave the Minstermen the lead on eleven minutes.
But as the home side grew in confidence and started to ask questions of City’s defence, Hylton had two goal bound shot blocked before Jordan Preston found him on the left flank and as the striker cut in he squared the ball for Cassidy to apply the finishing touch on 19 minutes and square matters.
Three minutes later Guiseley took the lead as a result of Will Hatfield dispossessing Barber and slipping the ball inside for Alex Purver to curl a superb shot into the top corner.
Even better was to come two minutes later when Hyltons trickery down the left channel led to an almighty scramble in the York six-yard box where Will Hatfield eventually got the decisive touch and double the Lions lead.
All of which proved to be too much for one York supporter who clambered over the perimeter barrier and set of in the direction of the York bench to seemingly berate the City management before the match day stewards intervened and led him off.
With the Guiseley midfield of Purver, Simon Walton and Hatfield purring it was the persistence of the latter that initiated the move that led to Jordan Preston firing under Kyle Letheren for the fourth on 31 minutes.
With the home side looking like scoring with every attack the unthinkable happened when all of the floodlights suddenly failed to plunge Nethermoor into almost total darkness with five minutes of the first half remaining. After several false dawns and an electrician being summoned the illumination was restored and the half completed.
But if York thought the enforced interruption had dampened the home sides momentum they were sadly mistaken, for although City had a useful good ten minute spell at the start of a second half that kicked off at 21:45 they were undone by Letheren’s clearance which was played straight back down the middle by Rob Atkinson for Hylton to run on to, draw the keeper and score a well-deserved goal.
Hylton then nearly grabbed a second for himself but his diving header was just the wrong side of the post and it was left to Atkinson to complete the rout as Nicky Clee retrieved an over-hit corner on 82 minutes and crossed for Adam Boyes to head into the defenders path for Guiseley’s sixth.
Although still bottom of the pile the win puts the Lions within three points of second bottom Southport who visit Nethermoor on Saturday for another early season six pointer.
Team:
26 Maxted
2 Brown (Clee 71)
3 Lowe
6 Lawlor
8 Hatfield
19 Preston
22 Purver
24 Walton
25 Atkinson (R)
29 Cassidy (Rankine 76)
30 Hylton (Boyes 81)
Subs:
17 Atkinson (D)
9 Boyes
11 Rankine
15 Palmer
18 Clee
