Match Report

Guisborough Town Manager Haslam is full of praise for his ‘brave battlers’

Guisborough Town 0, Redcar Athletic 1

(FA Trophy – Third Qualifying Round)

Guisborough Town boss Nathan Haslam expressed his strong pride for his players after seeing his brave battlers hold higher Division local rivals Redcar Athletic at bay for 83 minutes before the Steelmen scored a late winner at the Kevin Edward KGV Stadium on Saturday.

In front of a bumper crowd of just three short of a 1,000, the heroic Priorymen defended magnificently until the 83rd minute when former Guisborough Town player Louis Johnson crossed from the right and Redcar midfielder Owen Burns popped up to nod the ball home and break the hearts of the majority of fans in the big crowd.

In his post-match interview Natham commented: “Disappointed to lose the tie in the end, but immensely proud of my players to put in the performance that they produced against a well established Redcar outfit with lots of experience and quality.

 “WE RODE OUR LUCK AT TIMES”

“Yes, we rode our luck at times particularly in the first half when Redcar missed some gilt-edged chances – but I think we earned and deserved that kind of luck.

“In addition we defended very well indeed throughout the game.  But ultimately it was a lack of concentration on our part that led to their late winner.  But in the end Redcar fully deserved to win it and good luck to them in the next round.

“That said I’ve got to give our lads a lot of credit. I told them at half-time that we had shown Redcar too much respect and hadn’t been aggressive enough and that’s not how I want my teams to be – you can’t be half in you’ve got to be all in.

“We then started the second half very brightly and credit to the players for responding so positively to what I said at half-time.

“You’ve also got to take into account how many teenaged kids we’ve got in the side at the moment due to injuries to senior players.

“I can’t praise the squad as a whole highly enough on the day but we’ve been beaten by a side full of quality and who are clearly going places.

“That lack of concentration in the 83rd minute which led to their goal was unfortunate because but for that I think the game would have gone to penalties and who knows what could have happened in that scenario.

“Overall for us, though, it’s been a learning experience particularly for our young lads playing against really experienced men – but they’ve acquitted themselves well and so we take that forward into next week,” added Nathan.

He said his coaching staff and the team were thrilled to see such a big crowd as they emerged from the changing rooms.

“It was brilliant to see such a great turnout by our supporters and the wider community. Let’s hope they come and watch us again,” said Nathan.

In the game itself, although it was primarily a rearguard action for the Priorymen, they did manage to create chances themselves and there was a golden one for lanky striker Connor Simpson on 32 minutes. He won the ball and advanced into the Redcar penalty area to go one on one with the Redcar ‘keeper but Simpson’s shot was tame and easily saved.

Guisborough ‘keeper Ryan Catterick was by far the busiest of the two goalkeepers and afterwards in the Club bar he was deservedly presented with the Guisborough Brewery ‘Man of the Match’ award for the many important saves that he made.

So after all the excitement of their Trophy run, Guisborough are now looking ahead to next week and two tough away league games against Tynesiders Dunston on Tuesday. 29 September (KO.7.45pm) followed by a trip to West Yorkshire on Saturday, 3 October to play Silsden (KO 3pm).

Nathan said he hoped to have one or two players back from injury but he added that to use a cliche it would be a case of taking one game at a time. He said the playing surface at Dunston was excellent so that would suit the Priorymen.

FOOTNOTE: In an age when young people often get unfairly criticised, it was heartening to learn that the group of young Guisborough supporters behind the goals who chant to the sound of a beating drum actually did a litter pick at the end of the game. Well done lads!

Report by Bill Perfitt.