Blyth Town 1-3 Guisborough Town

Match Report

The proverbial new manager ‘bounce back’ that so often happens in football was amply demonstrated by Guisborough Town at high-flying Blyth Town on Saturday.

Following the midweek resignation of Steve Connolly and his coaching team, the Priorymen moved swiftly to appoint long-serving players Callum Martin and Tommy Marron as joint caretaker team managers.

And what a difference a few days makes as Guisborough pulled off a fantastic victory against a Blyth side unbeaten in their last nine games and standing third in the league table.

After a goalless first half, Guisborough dominated the second half with three goals to sweep aside their opponents and at the same time ended a depressing run of seven games without a win.

After the Blyth game joint caretaker managers Callum and Tommy issued these comments: “The togetherness of the Guisborough squad is what got us this result today.

“This was a real Guisborough Town performance. We had a full squad of leaders out there on the pitch and they worked their socks off for three points against a good Blyth side in great form,” they added.

Before the game Guisborough announced they had re-signed popular former player of the year Jack Bailey from Teesside neighbours Boro Rangers and Jack went straight into the starting 11 along with themselves at the heart of the Priorymen’s defence.

From the whistle, Guisborough started off on the front foot and went close on a number of occasions and although Blyth came more into it towards the interval the game remained deadlocked at 0-0 as the half-time whistle sounded.

In the second half Blyth started off brightly and Guisborough had ‘keeper Robert Dean to thank for holding on to a powerful goal-bound volley.

VITAL BREAKTHROUGH

But the Priorymen achieved the vital breakthrough in the 55th minute when Muzzy Abdullahi played the ball wide to Cal Martin whose low cross was side-footed home by Dale Milburn for his first goal for the club.

Then on 67 minutes Joey Smith doubled Guisborough’s lead when the Blyth defence failed to deal with a ball over the top and Smith nipped in to knock the ball past the home ‘keeper for 2-0.

Blyth briefly hit back in the 71st minute when a low powerful Liam Wotherspoon strike gave Guisborough ‘keeper Deano no chance.

After a period of stalemate Guisborough restored their two-goal lead when substitute Connor Gant followed up to score his maiden goal for the Priorymen after Max Craggs had put Cole Kiernan through on goal only to see his shot saved but rebound into the path of Gant who gleefully accepted the opportunity.

GUISBOROUGH BOARD PAYS HEARTFELT TRIBUTE

After the game the Board of Directors of Guisborough Town issued the following statement: “We would like to express our thanks to our travelling fans who went up to Blyth today to support the team.

“Also, we’d like to pay a special tribute to the squad as a whole and particularly to Tommy and Cal for their efforts this afternoon, which are greatly appreciated.”

Report: Bill Perfitt
Photos: Dan Clark

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— Guisborough Town F.C. (@guistownfc) March 1, 2025

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— Guisborough Town F.C. (@guistownfc) March 1, 2025