This turned out to be a routine win for Guiseley in the end but not before Workington had belied their lowly league position to push the Lions all the way.

They produced some enterprising football in the opening twenty minutes of the second period, then Gareth Arnison cancelled out Chris Senior’s first-half opener only for Gavin Rothery to seal the points for the Lions on 80 minutes.

Quality football was always going to be at a premium with a gale-force wind and an intermittent squall blowing down the pitch, and it didn’t look too promising for the visitors when keeper Aaron Taylor fumbled Lee Ellington’s shot on to the bar. After a series of attacks it was debutant Senior who grabbed the opener, latching on to a through ball, winning a tussle with Taylor and coolly slotting home from a tight angle on the edge of the area.

The Reds put the home side under some pressure on the restart, with Arnison close to scoring on a couple of occasions before he made no mistake from close in on 75 minutes when a corner was played back into the mix by Phil McLuckie. Leading scorer Rothery then stole the points for the home side with a thumping header past Taylor from Simon Baldry’s cross on 80 minutes.

Entertainment value: ****
Star man: Gavin Rothery (Guiseley)

Teams: Guiseley: Drench, Baldry, Merris, Toner, Brough, Ainge, Senior, Holdsworth, Ellington (Ellis 83), Forrest, Rothery. Subs not used: O’Neill, Burns, Booker, Giles

Workington: Taylor, McLuckie, Rowntree, May, Johnson, Hewson (McLellan 49), Green (McNiven 18), Main, Simpson, Arnison, Wright. Sub not used: Boyd

Scorers: Guiseley – Senior 23, Rothery 80  Workington – Arnison 75

Att: 383

Referee: C Kavanagh