Guiseley fell to a heavy defeat at Nethermoor on Tuesday night as a quickfire first-half hat-trick from Leo Farrell proved to be the Lions’ undoing, writes Simon Bullock.
The opening stages of the contest were fairly even with Farrell and Trialist B both having an attempt on goal for their respective sides inside the opening ten minutes, neither of which threatened to open the scoring.
It was Farrell however who grabbed the game’s first goal, chasing down Joe Cracknell who had the ball at his feet inside his six-yard box. The Lions’ goalkeeper took too long to clear his lines and Farrell was quick to charge him down and bundled the ball into the back of the net from close range.
A couple of minutes after the restart, the Barnsley number nine doubled his tally for the evening, when after incisive play from the Tykes in the final third, a pass was squared across the six-yard box for a waiting Farrell who didn’t need a second invitation to make the score 0-2 on 20 minutes.
Not content with two goals in three minutes, Farrell ensured he would be taking the match ball home when it sat up nicely 35 yards from goal and a first-time effort struck with perfect technique left Cracknell a stranded spectator inside his own penalty area as he watched the ball sail over his head and into the back of the net. A six-minute hat-trick was completed and the Lions were left stunned.
Guiseley did push to grab a goal back before the break, John Lufudu broke away down the right and swung in a good cross for Joe Ackroyd whose header was straight at Kieren Flavell. Ollie Brown tried his luck from distance a couple of minutes later, but his effort flew harmlessly wide of Flavell’s post.
Barnsley came out strong after half time and the Lions were immediately let off the hook when Trialist found himself bearing down on goal only to drag a right-footed effort well wide. Seconds later though, the Trialist found himself one-on-one with Cracknell and this time made no mistake, firing home a powerful strike into the bottom right corner to grab his side’s fourth of the night.
The Lions improved after the fourth, pressing with more purpose and looking more organised during a spell that brought their best goalscoring opportunity of the night when Brown executed a tidy spin 30 yards from goal, manoeuvred into some space and fired an effort goalwards which was well saved by a flying Flavell.
In the dying stages Valsau, Johnson, Ackroyd and Thewlis all had opportunities to pull a goal back but Barnsley’s defence held firm to seal a dominant 4-0 victory for the visitors.
No doubt a disappointing evening for Mark Bower and Danny Boshell’s men, who next up make the trip to the Dransfield Stadium to take on North Ferriby on Saturday (1pm KO) in the Lions’ final pre-season fixture before the curtain raiser against Workington on August 10th.
Guiseley AFC 0-4 Barnsley XI | Tuesday 30th July 2024 | Nethermoor Park
Attendance: 301
Guiseley: 1. Joe Cracknell, 2. John Lufudu (Mason 68’), 3. Ollie Brown. 4. Adriano Moke (Ekpolo 13’), 5. Jameel Ible ©, 6. Jake Lawlor, 7. Trialist A (Thewlis 45’), 8. Joe Ackroyd, 9. Trialist B (Valsau 77’), 10. Oliwier Grzelak (Johnson 57’), 11. Reece Kendall (Nkem 75’).
Subs: 12. Kyle Burrows, 13. Danny King, 14. Prince Ekpolo, 15. Miguel Valsau, 17. Jordan Thewlis, 18. Gabriel Johnson, 19. Jack Mason, 20. Foley Nkem.
Barnsley: 1. Kieren Flavell, 2. Harrison Nejman, 3. Bayley McCann, 4. Donovan Pines, 5. Connor Barrett, 6. Oliver Wilkinson, 7. Vimal Yoganathan, 8. Jonathan Bland ©, 9, Leo Farrell, 10. Callum West, 11. Trialist.
Subs: 12. Hayden Pickard, 14. Nathan James, 15. Jean Claude Makiessi, 16. Josiah Dyer, 17. Isaac Brown, 18. Emmasia Nzondo, – Marcus Rogers.
