A first half goal from Hamza Bencherif followed by a second half brace from Aram Soleman ensured that Guiseley extended their unbeaten record on the road to eight games and in the process they swept aside a Darlington side who had won ten of their previous league games at Blackwell Meadows.

The enforced departure of Marcus Dewhurst to Carlisle saw Rochdale loanee Brad Wademake his Gusieley debut between the sticks and there was a welcome return for striker Chris Sang who has extended his loan from Barnsley until the end of February in place of the suspended Aaron Martin.

The Lions were at the home side straight from the kick off and when Bencherif’s long ball found Sang who laid it off to George Cantrill things looked promising but the home defence managed to clear.

Things looked even more promising in the fifth minute as some keeper Liam Connell rushed off his line and took out Lee Shaw in a similar fashion to the penalty that Dewhurst had conceded at Nethermoor a fortnight ago but referee James Westgate waved away Guiseley protests for a spot kick.

With a strong swirling wind blowing down the pitch Darlington were finding it difficult to clear their lines and when they did make progress the Lions defence stood solid to nullify any theat.

Shaw’s cross was just too high for Sang and the speedy Justin Donawa finally got the better of Brad Nicholson but his cross flew across the six-yard box without any takers.

Having restricted the home side Gusieley finally got the reward that their efforts deserved on 29 minutes as Connell stuck out an arm to deflect a back pass and was cautioned for his trouble.

From the resulting indirect free kick the ball was played to skipper Bencherif and he fired home through the wall and beyond Connell for the opener.

Connell then had to be on his toes shortly after to stop Sang doubling the visitors advantage but when frustration got the better of the Quakers and Josef Wheatley took out Shaw with a nasty tackle he was rightly cautioned.

Nine minutes into the second half Felix was upended in the penalty area and after vociferous protests from the Quakers Soleman stepped up to beat Connell from the resultant spot and although the home custodian  got his fingertips to the ball the power was too much for him to make any difference.

The home side had their best spell of the game after this but struggled failed to produce any meaningful opportunities and it always looked as though the men in yellow would seal the victory with another goal.

Soleman went close on 78 minutes when he cut in from the left and beat two defenders but put his effort over the angle.

Having not heeded the warning Darlington suffered the consequences four minutes later as this time he turned is marker and put a precise shot into the far corner beyond Connell for game over.

The young midfielder nearly completed his hat trick in the final minutes but chose to lay his ball off to substitute Gabriel Johnson who was closed down by a relieved home defence.

Team:

1. Brad Wade

2. Reiss McNally

3. Brad Nicholson

4. Andrai Jones (89 Dylan Barkers)

5. Hamza Bencherif

6. Kennedy Digie

7. Kaine Felix

8. George Cantrill

9. Lee Shaw (75′ Prince Ekpolo)

10. Aram Soleman

18. Chris Sang (84′ Gabriel Johnson)

Substitutes:

12. Gabriel Johnson

14. Prince Ekpolo

15. Dylan Barkers

16. Scott Smith

17. Harrison Sheppeard