Guiseley continued their pre-season preparations in style after a Liam Tongue wonder goal earned them an impressive victory over Spennymoor Town at Nethermoor, writes Cayden Sands.
The Lions came into this game off the back of a busy midweek schedule after a mix of players partook in friendlies against Bradford sides Thackley AFC and Eccleshill United, with this victory being the culmination of a positive week for the club.
The hosts began the game full of energy and looked strong going forward, but the opening goal would almost come out of nowhere on nine minutes after a scuffed shot from Callum Chippendale allowed Tongue to unleash a thunderous effort goalbound that ricocheted off the crossbar and into the net, much the delight of the amazed Nethermoor crowd and the dismay of Michael Roxburgh in the Spennymoor goal.
The visitors would recover well from this early setback and have some chances of their own, the first being a free-kick from Glen Taylor that tested the Lions’ trialist keeper between the sticks, forcing him into a good save following the powerful strike.
Taylor would continue to test the Guiseley back line and made another good chance on 28 minutes when from close-range he would attempt a curled effort into the bottom right-hand corner, but despite beating the keeper his effort could only go narrowly wide of the mark, much to the Lions’ relief.
The hosts found themselves back on the front foot following this and it was that man Tongue again just before half-time who hit another audacious shot from distance, but this one could only go just wide of the goal in what would be the last action of an exciting half.
The second-half would maintain the attacking nature of the first, with Spennymoor managing to create a few good chances, one of which was another effort from Taylor, this time a low-driven shot that Guiseley’s trialist keeper managed to deal with well.
It would then be the turn of Will Harris to have a shot at goal, this one being a powerful effort inside the box that the trialist once again dealt with well before the follow up rather amusingly led to the ball hitting the roof of Nethermoor’s equipment hut, setting off a burglar alarm in the process.
After that minor inconvenience was dealt with, the action lost none of its pace and the visitors had another go at a resilient Lions’ defence, but the strong goalkeeping performances would once again show themselves after Danny Greenfield’s effort was saved by Danny Taberner, who had now replaced the impressive trialist.
As the game neared its conclusion, the chances refused to dry up at either end of the pitch as Tongue once again proved his ability with long shots for the hosts after hitting a free-kick that tested but narrowly failed to beat Roxburgh.
Guiseley would hold out amidst late pressure from Spennymoor to seal an impressive pre-season victory against National League North opposition, a great statement of intent as the Lions look to return to that very division.
Guiseley 1-0 Spennymoor Town | Saturday 22nd July 2023 | Nethermoor
Attendance: 247
Team: 1. Trialist A (66′ Taberner), 2. Trialist B (44′ Valsau), 3. Trialist C, 4. Aiden Walker, 5. Trialist D (69′ Pratt), 6. Trialist E, 7. Tom Pratt (49′ Murphy), 8. Leigh Whelan (65′ Valsau), 9. Tom Denton (46′ Trialist B), 10. Liam Tongue (C) and 11. Callum Chippendale.
Subs: 12. Kallan Murphy, 13. Hagie Damba, 14. Leigh Whelan, 15. Laurence Sorhaindo, 16. Miguel Valsau, 17. Prince Ekpolo and 1. Danny Taberner