Guisborough Town 1-1 Marske United

Match Report

Guisborough Town and Marske United produced a fiercely-fought and incident-packed Teesside derby at the Kevin Edward KGV Stadium on Saturday, with the Priorymen snatching a late equaliser just five minutes from time.

The draw extended the unbeaten run of joint Player-Managers Cal Martin and Tommy Marron to three games – but an impressive Marske side certainly came close to ending Guisborough’s successful start under the Priorymen’s new managerial partnership.

In front of a bumper derby crowd of 521, both sides served up a typically highly competitive local derby match and after taking an early lead in the 14th minute, Marske proceeded to dominate much of the game but squandered several golden opportunities to put the game out of Guisborough’s reach.

However, the Priorymen under Cal and Tommy have developed a togetherness and determination that has been lacking for a large part of the season – and the Guisborough fans in the big crowd certainly appreciated the tenacity of their team fighting right to the final whistle to salvage a draw with a brilliant header from substitute Jason Blackburn.

After the game Cal admitted his side struggled at times against a lively and physical Marske side, commenting: “Overall, it was disappointing performance as we were second best all over the field until the last 20 minutes or so.

“But on a positive note, we are now three games unbeaten and we can take that into next weekend for our match at Seaham Red Star on Saturday,” added Cal.

Call’s fellow Player Manager Tommy Marron said he was also disappointed by the result and performance against Marske – coming on the back of two encouraging away performances recently at Blyth Town and Whitley Bay.

He said: “As a collective we didn’t start the game well against Marske, which put us on the back foot.

‘POINT TO PROVE’

“The lads know there are non-negotiables in any football match but unfortunately we weren’t able to show these qualities throughout today’s game.

On the plus side though we have now gone three unbeaten and we look forward to going to Seaham next Saturday which promises to be another real battle.

“We need to be fully prepared for that and see a Guisborough team with a bit more spirit and a point to prove,” added Tommy.

Marske certainly started the game on the front foot and it came as no surprise when they took the lead on 14 minutes through McCorie Carmichael, who surged unchecked into the Guisborough penalty area and placed a good shot out of Town ‘keeper Robert Dean’s reach and into the far right corner of the net.

Guisborough came closest to equalising in the 37th minute when the impressive Joey Smith hit a great pass to Muzzy Abdullahi but the winger’s shot was well smothered by Marske ‘keeper Ollie Swan.

On 39 minutes a Guisborough free kick into the Marske box was headed on by defender James Frazer but Muzzy headed the loose ball wide.

Guisborough had goalkeeper Deano to thank for not falling further behind two minutes from half-time when a Marske cross from the left was headed superbly by former KGV favourite Brad Mills but Deano was equal to it to dive at full stretch and just get his finger tips to divert the ball wide.

So Guisborough were relieved to go in at half-time just the one goal down but after the interval Marske picked up where they left off to continue to put the home goal under severe pressure.

In the 53rd minute it was Mills who again came close when he whipped in a free kick but Deano punched clear.

Marske continued to pile on the pressure and almost doubled their lead on 72 minutes when following another corner a shot on the half volley struck the Guisborough bar and thankfully went behind for a goal kick.

Two minutes later there was an almighty scramble in the Guisborough goalmouth and miraculously Guisborough managed to clear the ball off the goal-line twice to keep the score to 0-1.

A few minutes earlier Marske had another great chance to wrap the game up but a header went wide with the Guisborough goal at Marske’s mercy.

SUPERB HEADER!

Then with just five minutes remaining Marske were made to pay for all their missed second half chances when substitute Jason Blackburn scored with a superb header to earn his side a last-gasp draw.

In a grandstand finale, Guisborough surged forward, playing their best football of the game, and it was the turn of the Marske goal to come under siege but the visitors held out for a 1-1 draw – the same scoreline when the two sides met in their first derby of the season last November.

Guisborough were very thankful on Saturday to main match sponsors Kevin Edward and Matchball Sponsor Archie Parkes. The Club is indebted to Kevin, Archie and all its other much valued sponsors for their amazing support throughout the season.

Report: Bill Perfitt