Image courtesy of Alex Daniel
Guiseley made amends for Saturday’s blip at Hednesford with a return to winning ways as first-half goals from Jake Lawlor and Adam Boyes put paid to local rivals Harrogate Town at Nethermoor this evening.
Fielding an unchanged line up, the Lions got off to the best possible start after just nine minutes as Lawlor powered home Wayne Brooksby’s free kick at the far post with a header that flew past Craig MacGillivray.
Liam Hardy could have replied for the visitors but he wasted a good opening as his effort flew high and wide.
For all their pressure, the home side were unable to add to Lawlor’s opener and they suffered a blow just before the break when the injured Alex Johnson was unable to continue and was replaced by Danny Forrest.
The substitution paid dividends almost immediately, when Forrest played a short pass for Danny Boshell to swing in a cross that was headed home by Boyes on the stroke of half-time.
Town replaced Craig Nelthorpe and Michael Woods with Dominic Rowe and Antony Brown to shore up the midfield and to some extent it worked, although Guiseley were hampered by the loss of Brooksby, Michael Potts taking his place.
Danny Ellis went close early on with a hooked shot that went just the wrong side of the post and Boyes had two good chances to increase the home side’s lead but he shot straight at MacGillivray with his first effort and then planted a header wide of the target from Rhys Meynell’s cross.
Harrogate, for their part, struck the bar midway through the half and Hardy tested Drench late on, but with both sides unable to convert their limited second-half chances the Lions ran out two-nil winners and they move back above Boston into the final play-off place, three points ahead of United both teams having played 39 games.
Mark Bower’s thoughts on tonight’s win
Danny Forrest’s comments on the victory
Team:
1-Drench
2-Holdsworth
3- Meynell
4-Hall
5-Ellis
6-Lawlor 9
7-Brooksby (Potts, 69)
8-Boshell
9-Boyes 45
10- Johnson (A) (Forrest 44)
11-Rothery
12- Harrison
14-Forrest
15-Potts
16- Johnson (O)
18-Dickinson