Andy Holdsworth’s brace saw Guiseley safely home against a Boston side that looked good going forward but seemed to have lost the certainty at the back that made them such tough opponents last season.

The visitors took the lead as early as the seventh minute when a defensive slip let Marc Newsham into the left channel to finish in style, shooting across Steve Drench into the far corner. The Lions replied with Danny Ellis’s looping header which landed on top of the bar before being cleared to safety.

When the home side were then awarded a free kick twenty yards out, former Huddersfield Town midfielder Holdsworth stepped up and drove it through the gap in the wall created by striker Lee Ellington, although the ball did take a slight deflection on its way past Paul Bastock.

Ciaran Toner’s daisy cutter was just the wrong side of the post and Simon Baldry also went close before Gavin Rothery almost grabbed the lead that the Lions’ first-half pressure deserved but his rising shot was just over.

Ian Ross brought a good save from Drench on the resumption and Ellington’s pull down and shot, all in one smooth movement, deserved better. However it was the enterprising Holdsworth who sealed matters on 71 minutes when he drove the ball home through a crowded area after Bastock, under pressure from Baldry, had only managed to punch Dave Merris’s cross into the midfielder’s path.

Entertainment value: ***

Star man: Andy Holdsworth (Guiseley)

Guiseley: Drench, Clarke, Merris, Toner, Ellis (Bower 86), Ainge, Baldry, Holdsworth, Ellington, Senior, Rothery. Unused subs: O’Neill, Burns, Booker, Giles

Boston: Bastock, Fairclough J, Austin (Field 65), Milnes, Canonville, Ward, Semple, Sleath, Kirk (Fairclough B 75), Newsham, Ross.  Unused subs: Joyce, Hall, Edwards

Scorers: Guiseley – Holdsworth 11, 71 Boston United – Newsham 7

H/T 1-1

Att: 508

Referee: Martin Coy

By John Clements