Guisborough Town 1 – 3 Middlesbrough FC U23
Details
Date | Time | Competition | Season | Attendance |
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06/07/2022 | 19:45 | Friendly | 2022/23 | 455 |
Match Report
A bumper KGV Stadium crowd of 455 was treated to an enjoyable and competitive pre-season friendly last night between a new-look Guisborough Town and Middlesbrough FC’s potential stars of the future – their Under-23s Academy side.
The final score line was a 3-1 victory to Middlesbrough’s U-23s but the result was secondary to what turned out to be another excellent workout for the Priorymen.
Guisborough Manager Steve Bell was very pleased with the overall performance of his team, commenting: “I thought we held our own against the Middlesbrough lads for the first hour but towards the end we got a bit untidy and they punished us for it.
“But I was happy overall and very pleased with the form showed by our recent new signings. Of course we would have liked to have won the game but the result was largely immaterial and it has proved a good workout as we continue our pre-season programme,” added Steve.
Guisborough kicked-off their pre-season build-up last Saturday with an impressive 5-0 win away at Grangetown, with goals from Jason Blackburn, Sam Webster and new signings Olly Cann and Jordan Fielding – with a fifth from an unnamed trialist.
The Priorymen will face their stiffest pre-season test yet when they take on neighbours Marske United at the KGV on Saturday, 9 July (KO 3pm) in the annual John Butterfield Memorial Trophy match.
Against Middlesbrough U-23s last night, Guisborough drew first blood when they deservedly took the lead after 27 minutes when Jason Blackburn notched his second goal in two matches when he burst through the Boro defence and coolly slotted the ball home into the far left corner as the Boro ‘keeper advanced out of his goal.
But Guisborough’s lead lasted barely six minutes as on 33 minutes the diminutive blond-haired Boro striker Max Howells showed an electric burst of speed to outstrip the Guisborough defence and place the ball perfectly into the far right hand corner of the home net for 1-1.
Guisborough ‘keeper Robert Dean made two brilliant point blank reflex saves to prevent his side falling further behind in the first half and both side went in all square at 1-1 at the half-time interval.
In the second half Boro gradually got on top but Guisborough were indented to ‘keeper Dean once again on 65 minutes when he brilliantly parried a close range Boro effort for a corner.
Breakaway Move
Shortly afterwards the brave Dean had to leave the field with a back injury to be replace by reserve ‘keeper Will Cowey who was soon involved in the action on 72 minutes when Howells chased a long ball and just beat Cowey to the bounce and he had a simple task to dart onwards and poke the ball into an empty goal for his second successful strike of the night.
As Guisborough pressed forward in search of what would have been a deserved equaliser a breakaway move saw Howells complete his hat-trick when he found space in the Guisborough penalty area to rifle the ball home into the corner of the net for a final score of 3-1.
It was a case of friendly revenge for Boro U-23’s Manager Paul Crager – who as well as his Middlesbrough ’day job’ is also Assistant Manager to Guisborough boss Steve Bell – with the Priorymen having knocked Boro U-23s out of the North Riding Senior Cup last season.
Deserved Recognition
At the end of the game in the clubhouse there was a surprise presentation by Guisborough Town Deputy Chairman Don Cowan to none other than the writer of the club’s press releases, Club Press Officer Bill Perfitt.
Don thanked Bill for his outstanding service to Guisborough Town over the last 13 years and said his reports were second to none in the whole of the Northern League and presented Bill with a Silver Salver in recognition of his service to the Club.
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Past Meetings
Date | Home | Results | Away | Time |
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Guisborough Town | 1 - 1 | Middlesbrough FC U23 |
Ground
Kevin Edward KGV Stadium |
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King George V Stadium Howlbeck Road, Guisborough TS14 6LE |