Guiseley academy Graduate Nathan Newall salvaged a point on the road against a dominant Boston side for ten man Guiseley, read more in our match report sponsored by BuildADrive.com.
The game saw tempers flare early on when Scott Duxbury was booked in the opening minute for a poor challenge on George Cantrill, as both teams wrestled for possession.
The first chance of the game fell to the hosts, as Paul Green found some space in behind but Dan Cowan did well to nullify the attack, as Boston took control of possession early on.
Early crosses from Thewlis and Hawkridge put pressure on The Lions but the back line held firm through the early passages.
The home side showed their attacking intent when a Jordan Thewlis counter attack completely split open the defence but the shot was well wide of Brad Wade’s net with The Lions’ only half chance of the opening twenty minutes being a Brad Nicholson long throw that almost found former Boston man Jonathan Wafula in the penalty area.
United continued to test Brad Wade who was forced to parry a powerful Jordan Burrow shot and saw the defence clear numerous crosses and set pieces as Hawkridge and Thewlis continued to fire crosses into The Lions’ penalty area.
The Lions’ first real chance came through Kian Harratt who latched on to a mistake by United keeper Ross Fitzsimons and cracked the bar with a looping effort from 35 yards. But Boston continued to pile the pressure on, Brad Nicholson threw himself in the way to block a Terry Hawkridge effort and a super save from Brad Wade denied Jordan Burrow for a second time. Burrow refused to go away and went on to force another save out of the young keeper.
The pace of loanee Kian Harratt and Jonathan Wafula gave Boston trouble but former Guiseley skipper Scott Garner nailed some perfectly timed tackles to prevent Wafula going one on one with Fitzsimmons in the Boston net. And Boston closed out the first half with some decent possession spells but the defensive work of Dan Cowan and Hamza Bencherif ensured the deadlock wasn’t broken before the half time whistle.
The Lions came out of the dressing room with more aggressive intent and the substitute Nathan Newall delivered a very favourable cross into the box that made The Pilgrims sweat, but Boston didn’t sit back and the creativity of Thewlis continued to cause Guiseley problems and a last ditch tackle from Prince Ekpolo snuffed out a threatening attack as Boston resumed their position as pressers in the game.
A Boston free-kick from Terry Hawkridge broke the deadlock and gave the hosts the lead after being brought down on the edge of the box by Brad Nicholson and the Boston team appeared to rally as Duxbury and Tootle began to make daring runs from full back, down the channel.
United continued to enjoy possession but it didn’t come without problems for the home side, as a looping ball from Hamza Bencherif left Wafula with a sight of goal but The Pilgrims recovered to snuff out the attack.
The goal scorer Hawkridge delivered another sound free kick that found Thewlis but the flag went up to give The Lions some relief as The Pilgrims continued their onslaught and forced another dangerous free kick that Brad Wade dealt with well. Kian Harratt broke through on goal following a promising passing period with Gabriel Johnson but a poor touch from Brad Nicholson gave possession back to the hosts as The Lions struggled to hold possession and a ball from Scott Duxburry nearly set Paul Green away to grab Boston a second.
Academy graduate Lewis Hey made his first team debut from the bench, replacing Brad Nicholson and The Lions appeared to spur more as they pushed towards an equaliser but it wasn’t without casualty, and star midfielder Prince Ekpolo had to be stretchered after a challenge from Scott Garner that left The Lions with ten men as all substitutes had been used.
Added time saw Boston use their gamesmanship skills and it looked as if it was going to take a miracle to see The Lions take anything from the game. A wonder strike from Nathan Newall brought The Lions level deep in added time on the half volley and rescued a point with the final chance of the game.
The Lions now look to a difficult home fixture against Brackley Town on Saturday, but go into it with the knowledge that even in the face of adversity, a lion can still roar.
Match report written by Joe Priestley.
Marcus Bignot’s post match thoughts.
Team: 1. Brad Wade, 2. George Cantrill, 3. Brad Nicholson (77′ Lewis Hey), 4. Mark Howarth (45′ Nathan Newall), 5. Hamza Bencherif (C), 6. Dan Cowan, 7. Kian Harratt (79′ Matty Gillam), 8. Prince Ekpolo, 9. Jonathan Wafula, 10. Lebrun Mbeka and 11. Gabriel Johnson.
Subs: 12. Isaac Currie, 14. Matty Gillam (79′ Harratt), 15. Ashton Hall, 16. Nathan Newall (45′ Howarth) and 17. Lewis Hey (77′ Nicholson).
