Guiseley wiped out any lingering hangover of a heavy weekend defeat with a 3-1 victory against Prescot Cables on Tuesday night at Nethermoor, writes Scott Kelly.
The Lions came into this game following a poor display and a 4-0 defeat at Leek Town on Saturday. Despite this, they were favourites against a side who had to travel from Merseyside on what was a perfect Tuesday evening for football.
It was the visitors who flew out of the blocks with a couple of early chances. There was barely 10 minutes on the clock when penalty box pinball resulted in Ollie Brown sparing the Lions blushes with a clearance off the line. Soon after, more penalty box pinball and the ball fell to forward Jack Goodwin whose inch-perfect strike pinged off the post, with goalkeeper Joe Cracknell beaten all ends up.
The Lions first effort came on the 20-minute mark. A lung-busting run from defender Lebrun Mbeka meant he found himself in space 30-yards from goal. Shouts of ‘Shoot’ came from the home faithful. He did just that, but his effort fired past Cables’ goalkeeper Calvin Hare’s left-hand post.
By the half hour mark the Lions were beginning to improve and put their stamp on the game and almost took the lead as Will Longbottom played through Jordan Thewlis with superb eye of a needle pass. Thewlis placed the ball past Hare, but the Cables were relieved to see the offside flag raised. It was a contentious call, but there were little complaints from the Guiseley players.
With half time approaching, the Lions opened the scoring. Longbottom’s corner was prodded home by Thewlis for his 5th goal of the season.
If you’d have thought the Lions would be heading into the half time break with a lead you would be wrong. A Prescot long ball almost straight from kick off caused some havoc. A clearance from Jake Lawlor fortuitously ricocheted to James Steele, and his low cross across the goalmouth caught the Lions defence off-guard and Goodwin was on hand to poke the ball home from close range. This was Goodwin’s second league goal of the campaign and ensured the sides did in fact go in at half time on level terms.
The away side nearly caught the hosts napping at the start of the second half. Skipper Lebrun Mbeka was booked for a cynical foul and midfielder Francis Smith nearly caught out Cracknell as his quickly taken free kick struck his side netting. The hosts however got into the second half more the longer it went on and took the lead on the 67th minute.
As the game entered its final quarter, Will Longbottom found himself in space 40 yards or so from goal. It appeared he was heading nowhere and despite close contact from Prescot defenders he let fly from just outside the area. With the help of a wicked deflection and Hare’s right-hand post, the ball eventually nestled in the goal and sent the home fans into raptures. Although not looking hugely comfortable, the Lions grabbed a third eight minutes from time. Another Longbottom corner caused havoc and after an initial shot was saved, Thewlis was at the back post and headed home to add his 6th of the campaign. That was a brace for the 32-year-old, who had only bagged his previous league goals of the campaign with a first half hat-trick against Hebburn last month.
That goal knocked the stuffing out of Prescot, with their only effort being another late free kick from Smith whistling past the post. There were also shouts for a late penalty as substitute Taylor Bowen ran clear on goal and appeared to have the goal at his mercy, but was seemingly tripped by Hare, but referee Macauley Gibson waved away any appeals.
A victory for the Lions put them level on points with their opponents and move into 13th with 10 points from eight games. It doesn’t get any easier for the Lions though, as they look to progress in the Emirates FA Cup this weekend, as they travel to National League North leaders South Shields. The Mariners have collected 20 points so far and remain undefeated in their first eight matches.
Guiseley 3-1 Prescot Cables | Tuesday 9th September 2025 | Nethermoor
Attendance: 535
Team: 1. Joe Cracknell, 2.Ollie Brown, 3. Connor Ferguson, 4. Jay Buchan, 5. Lebrun Mbeka, 6. Jake Lawlor, 7. John Lufudu (87′ Odunston), 8. Harrison Hopper (80′ Spencer), 9. Jordan Thewlis (89′ Bentley), 10. Jack Emmett (68′ Bowen) and 11. Will Longbottom.
Subs: 12. Lucas Odunston, 14. Jamie Spencer, 15. Sam Bentley and 16. Taylor Bowen.
