Match Report

Gritty Guisborough grind out hard-earned victory at Crook to open up 5 point lead at top!

Crook Town 0, Guisborough Town 1

(Northern League – Division One)

A gritty performance by Guisborough Town ground out a very hard-fought victory by the only goal at Crook Town on Saturday.

The win opened up a 5-point lead at the top of the table for the Priorymen – but Manager Nathan Haslam cautioned against getting carried away, stressing that it would take another 10 games to assess where his team truly are in the title race.

This 1-0 win was a really well-earned three points with every single Guisborough player putting a shift and a half in on a big, energy-sapping Crook pitch to clinch a priceless victory.

The game was settled in the 17^th minute when Guisborough striker Kurtis Howes hit a clever left-footer inside the box which wrong-footed the Crook ‘keeper and the ball crept just inside the right hand post for Kurt’s 10^th goal of the season.

In truth, Guisborough should have had the game virtually sewn up by half-time with the chances they created and missed, although Crook themselves wasted a glorious opportunity a minute before the break to equalise.

The second half was end to end with the Priorymen coming closest to scoring again three minutes after the break when superb work down the left by Dylan McAvoy put Matty Willshaw through on goal but his shot swerved agonizingly just wide of the Crook post.

MANAGER NATHAN HASLAM’S THOUGHTS

After the game Guisborough boss Nathan Haslam commented:  “Yes, I’m delighted with the three points and another clean sheet.  It was a tough afternoon for us.

“The pitch was pretty dead as it’s that time of year when the playing surfaces are not really conducive to playing football the way we like to play – but we rose to the challenge to get the three points.”

Nathan had special praise for goal-scorer Kurtis Howes for his match-winning goal.

“He comes alive in the box – that’s why he’s on the pitch for us because he scores goals.  We all thought he was going to shoot with his right foot when he scored, but he’s turned and swiveled onto his left foot to hit the target.  It’s that little bit of class that you need to win games.

“We had two or three good chances that we’ve missed when we’ve been one on one with their keeper which is a disappointing thing.  But you could say the same thing about their lads when one of them missed a gilt-edged chance to equalise at a crucial point in the game as half-time approached.

“But I can’t ask any more of the lads – Crook is a tough place to come to away from home and you’ve just got to be thankful to come away with three points,” added Nathan.

Guisborough centre back and skipper Ben Errington limped off midway through the second half but Nathan is confident he’ll be fit for next Saturday’s crucial home game against Carlisle at the Kevin Edward KGV Stadium on 1 November (KO 3pm).

“Ben picked up a little niggle so we brought him off purely as a precaution and I’m sure he’s going to be ok – but as ever we just need to rest and recuperate and give it a couple of days and see how everyone is.

“STILL A LONG WAY TO GO”

“The game against Carlisle is another big one for us but I keep stressing to the boys that it’s still very early in the season.  The league table doesn’t mean anything at this moment in time as there’s still a long, long way to go.

“It’s a case of the old cliché of taking one game at a time but as I’ve said before I’d rather be at the top of the table with teams looking up at us.

“So we need to keep doing what we’re doing, stick go our principles and we’re at home next week with a tough game against Carlisle but hopefully we can keep this great unbeaten league run at home going.

“We’ve got some very tough games coming up as we start to approach the half-way stage of the season and we’ll know where we really stand in probably the next 10 games or so.

“But for now we are on a bit of a crest of a wave – and this is down to the lads and how hard they are working along with all the other positive things going on at the football club,” added Nathan.

Report by Bill Perfitt