Guisborough Town 2-2 Consett (Extra Preliminary Round)

Match Report

Guisborough Town Manager Nathan Haslam said he was “very proud” of his young side as they held higher league Consett to a 2-2 draw in the FA Cup at the Kevin Edward KGV Stadium on Saturday.

After a highly entertaining game, Nathan commented: “I thought we were particularly good value in the first half but again we’ve had enough chances to have put a nice cushion between ourselves and Consett.

“We created plenty of goal scoring opportunities but haven’t converted them because we were just not ruthless enough in front of goal. But at least we are creating chances, which is a good thing.

“In the second half, we were a little bit disjointed I thought both in our back line and the midfield. So, being an FA Cup game I thought I’d freshen it up a bit and made three changes.

“So in our midfield, where games are often won and lost, I’ve got a 16-year-old, an 18-year-old, a 17-year-old and also a 19-year-old in a midfield five, which is quite frightening really when you think!

“So I feel quite proud that they’ve stood up to the challenge against a team a league higher up than ourselves. So knowing that we can be a lot better than today I don’t think we have anything to fear going into the replay at Consett on Tuesday.

‘SOLID PERFORMANCE’

“By then, we’ll have some players back and it’s one of those ties where it’s got to be settled on the night so hopefully we can go through to the next round.

“So to summarise today – it was a solid performance, we didn’t lose which is a major positive but we did create chances and we achieved this on the back of having a lot of young kids out there against a team from higher up.

“So I’ve got to look at things overall and feel proud of my team,” added Nathan.

Guisborough opened the game brightly and were first to threaten in the 13th minute when Muzzy Abdullahi won a corner but from it James Frazer headed over.

In the 18th minute it was Consett’s turn to put Guisborough under pressure but an attack ended with one of their striker’s dragging his shot wide.

Five minutes later Guisborough should have taken the lead when another great Muzzy run down the right resulted in the ball falling kindly to unmarked Town striker Josh Macdonald but with the goal at his mercy he pulled his shot agonisingly wide.

However, in the 34th minute Guisborough stormed into the lead with a superb individual goal by Muzzy, who produced a blistering run down the right before unleashing a fine shot into the far left corner for 1-0 to the Priorymen.

In the 41st minute Consett had the ball in the net when Guisborough ‘keeper Ryan Catterick failed to hold onto a Consett striker’s shot but a teammate scored with the rebound but fortunately the linesman’s flag for offside rescued the Priorymen and preserved their 1-0 half-time lead to half-time.

But the lead didn’t last long into the second half when a Consett attack in the 54th minute resulted in a shot which was heavily deflected by Guisborough defender Ben Errington net for 1-1.

RICOCHETED LIKE A PINBALL

Undeterred, Guisborough stormed back into the lead in the 57th minute when following a Guisborough corner the ball ricocheted around like a pinball before Man of the Match Kurtis Howes smashed the ball home to restore the Priorymen’s lead.

But in the 64th minute Consett equalised with a well-worked goal when the ball was crossed into the Guisborough penalty area and left back Charlie Exley headed home assuredly for 2-2.

Both sides went in search of a winner but, alas, the game ended all square which was a terrific outcome for the Priorymen against higher league Consett.

The replay will be at Consett this coming Tuesday, 5 August.

Report: Bill Perfitt