Guiseley relinquished their hold on the County Cup at Valley Parade tonight as FC Halifax completed a League and Cup double over the Lions with Gareth Seddon’s goal in the first half of extra time proving the difference between the two teams.
The Shaymen went close early on when Adriano Moke cut inside and rattled the post and Seddon should have opened the scoring moments later but shot straight at Steve Drench with only the Guiseley keeper to beat. Matt Wilson headed the Lions’ first effort straight into Phil Senior’s arms on twenty minutes and Phil Marsh put a rare shot over the bar.
Moke flashed another shot just wide from 25 yards and the Lions should have been one down when Josh Wilson’s attempted back pass set up Seddon once again, but his shot rebounded off the inside of the post and back across the goal line before being cleared.
Manager Steve Kittrick cut a lonely figure during the first half but must have seen enough from his vantage point in the stand as Wayne Brooksby replaced the ineffective Marsh on the restart. Gavin Rothery’s effort was a whisker away and he then shot straight at Senior, and when Jon Worthington repeated the feat at the other end extra time looked a certainty.
When it arrived, Seddon’s shot into the top corner proved to be the winner but ironically after going behind the Lions had perhaps their best spell of the game. However, as with other recent key matches it was too little, too late.
Hear Steve Kittrick’s post-match interview with Colin Robertson here.
Team:
1 – Steve Drench
2 – Andy Holdsworth (Captain)
3 – Andy McWilliams
4 – Jack Rea (Parkinson, )
5 – Matt Wilson
6 – Mark Bower
7 – Seb Carole
8 – Gavin Rothery
9 – Josh Wilson
10 – James Walshaw (Dale, 65)
11 – Phil Marsh (Brooksby, 46)
12 – Wayne Brooksby
14 – Macaulay Parkinson
15 – Zack Dale
18 – Jacob Giles