Match Report

A 4-0 defeat on road – but that doesn’t tell whole story for gutsy Guisborough

SILSDEN 4, GUISBOROUGH TOWN 0

(Northern Premier League East Division)

On the face of it, a 4-0 defeat looks comprehensive enough – but there were several genuine mitigating factors behind this scoreline.

The Priorymen dominated the first half in which they were unlucky not to go ahead in the 25th minute when striker Matty Willshaw, making a welcome return from suspension, hit the Silsden bar following a corner.

Guisborough had several other first half chances as they continued to look the better side – but then in time added on at the end of the first half they found themselves 2-0 down against the run of play as Silsden scored two goals within minutes of each other minutes just before the referee blew for half-time.

Silsden’s first goal came immediately after Town defender Noah Gilbraith had to leave the field injured to be replaced by Fin Rose and straight after from a corner Jorge Sikora headed home for 1-0 to the home side.

Then Silsden doubled their lead barely a minute later when home winger Andrew Buah cut in from the left to score and Guisborough must have left the field for half-time reeling from what had just happened.

And things got worse for the Priorymen just four minutes into the second half when Matty Willshaw had to leave the field after suffering an earlier knock to be replaced by Billy Waller.

Then heart-breakingly for Town, on the hour mark Andrew Buah scored his second goal when they broke on the right and the ball was eventually squared across goal for Buah to finish for 3-0 to Silsden.

In the 82nd minute Silsden added a fourth goal when another strong run on the right saw the ball squared across goal for Kayle Price to finish from close range to sadly complete a miserable afternoon for the Priorymen.

GUISBOROUGH GAFFER NATHAN HASLAM’S POST-MATCH THOUGHTS

After the game Guisborough Town Manager Nathan Haslam commented: “This was a difficult afternoon – the final result tells us that. Up until their first goal shortly before half-time I thought we were in control.

“Then Noah Gilbraith had to go off through injury which forced us into changing our shape and immediately after that was the start of when things started to go wrong.

“After that it was a psychological test for us and a step too far. Ultimately we’ve suffered yet more injuries and been forced into continuing with two or three different shapes with, for just one example, a centre forward playing at centre half.

“It’s tough but there’s no rest for the wicked as the saying goes and you can’t feel sorry for yourself.  You’ve just got to keep going, work hard and hopefully we’ll get a little rub of the green in our favour over the next week or two,” added Nathan.

Nathan’s full interview has been posted on Guisborough Town’s official ‘X’ site.

Report by Bill Perfitt.