Match Report

‘Phenomenal Fergy’ stars in terrific team performance by Priorymen to notch up sixth victory on the bounce!

North Shields 0, Guisborough Town 3

(Northern League – Division One)

What an absolutely terrific total team performance Guisborough Town produced yet again as they continued their brilliant sequence of six straight league victories at North Shields on Saturday.

The highly impressive winning run has maintained the Priorymen’s six point cushion at the top of the table over Shildon who are still in hot pursuit and with a game in hand.

However, the excellence of this great overall team performance by every single Guisborough player is the biggest takeaway from this thoroughly convincing victory.

After the game Guisborough Manager Nathan Haslam – making a welcome return back to the dugout after illness, commented:  “It was a tough game out there today, with a really difficult, heavy pitch for both teams.

“We knew it was going to be a battle coming here and we just needed to stay physically strong throughout the game, and we did just that!  In the first 20 minutes we showed some real class to score two very good goals.

“Fergy (Joe Ferguson) was involved in both goals, the first with a lofted free kick to the far post for Kurtis Howes to score and the second when Fergy slipped the ball beautifully through to Kurtis for his second goal.

“But Shields threw everything at us and had a lot of possession – they knew how to play in heavy conditions like this on their home pitch. But in this situation you’ve just got to match them and be better than them and over the course of the whole game to run out 3-0 winners was well deserved.

“The display epitomises the quality of the boys that we’ve got in the squad as they quickly established a two-goal lead inside the first 20 minutes and we were very comfortable, dare I say, at that point.

‘ROSE TO THE CHALLENGE’

“It wasn’t our normal type of game today but we rose to the challenge and from a physical and athletic standpoint we did really well today.  Ryan Catterick in goal didn’t have to make a save throughout the whole game which demonstrates how well we’ve been as a unit today,” continued Nathan.

“When we got that third goal through Matty Willshaw that absolutely killed the game in our favour.  It was then just a case of seeing the game out.  It also gave us an opportunity to get some of our young boys off the subs bench and on an energy-sapping pitch it’s not easy but the decision-making from all three subs was brilliant and it’s good for their footballing experience.”

Nathan doesn’t often single out players for individual praise but on this occasion he made special mention of two players – for different reasons.  The first was Joe Ferguson for his exceptional influence on the game, especially coming back from some serious recent injury issues.

Nathan continued:  “Fergie is one of our big players and his experience is key when you come across away grounds and difficult, challenging pitches like we had today and you need players with Joe’s experience but importantly to make it count.

‘ABSOLUTELY PHENOMINAL’

“Fergie’s done just that with two assists and his overall performance considering he’s been out for about seven weeks was absolutely phenomenal.  So credit to Joe – he looks after himself and has put himself about right across the whole pitch as indeed all our players have done today.  Without doubt Joe is a very, very important member of our squad.”

Nathan also commented on the contribution made to the team when striker/midfielder Elliott Beddow came on to the field midway through the first in place of two-goal scorer Kurtis Howes who was taken off as a precaution due to a tight groin.

Nathan added:  “Kurtis started the game in devastating fashion with two very well taken goals but then his groin felt tight and so we didn’t want to risk him as he’s too big a player for us.

“So we brought Elliott on – he’s obviously disappointed not to start but what a reaction we got from him.  His work rate was phonemical.  You wouldn’t normally associate that side of the game with Elliott – he’s more about getting past people in the final third and creating and scoring goals, so his performance today was outstanding and fair play to him.

Looking ahead to his side’s next game which is not until Boxing Day, 26 December at home to North Yorkshire rivals Northallerton (KO 12.30pm), Nathan commented:  “It’s good for the boys to have a nice break for Christmas and they’ve certainly earned that because it’s been a tough, tough time for us.

“So it’s now a case of rest and recovery and we look forward very much to entertaining Northallerton on Boxing Day.  It’s a local derby and we’re hoping for a big Boxing Day crowd to finish the year off.  We know what we have to do – we always look forward to every game, especially at home,” Nathan concluded.

In the game itself, the Priorymen got off to the perfect start by taking the lead after just four minutes.  Ferguson lofted a high free kick to the far back post and Howes was on hand to prod the ball home for 1-0 to Guisborough.

Town almost doubled their lead in the 17^th minute when great interplay between Ferguson and Howes saw the latter get to the by-line and cross for the onrushing Jack Bailey to slide in and shoot but agonisingly the ball hit the side netting.

RAMPANT PRIORYMEN!

On 20 minutes Howes scored his second goal and what a beauty it was fashioned delightfully between Howes himself and, who else, Ferguson once more.  After winning the ball in midfield Ferguson drove forward sliding the ball superbly through to Howes who timed his run brilliantly to strike the ball home into the bottom corner of the net for 2-0 to the rampant Priorymen.

Four minutes later Guisborough winger Toluwani Osiyemi came close to scoring what would have been a superb solo goal when he won the ball and stormed forward and rounded the Shields ‘keeper but at the crucial moment he appeared to kick the ball against his own leg and then slipped on the treacherous pitch and hit the ball wide of the far post.

Thereafter Guisborough played a containment role to preserve their two-goal lead through to half-time.

On the hour mark, however, Guisborough got a crucial third goal to seal a famous victory to the delight of their travelling band of appreciative supporters.

And it was centre forward Matty Willshaw who scored an amazing goal after outstanding work by Jack Bailey to win the ball in the middle of the pitch.  Bailey sent Willshaw racing towards goal and he hit two fierce shots which were both brilliantly kept out by the Shields ‘keeper but it was third time lucky as Willshaw drilled the ball home from a very acute angle for 3-0 to the mighty Priorymen!

A home supporter was heard to bellow out “You lucky so and so” to which a Guisborough fan, possibly the club Press Officer, retorted “No, that goal was pure class!”

That was how the scoreline stayed to the final whistle and the Guisborough supporters gathered where the players trooped off and gave their team a rousing reception for a fabulous performance and victory.

Report by Bill Perfitt.