Guisborough Town 1-1 (3-2 pens) Scarborough Athletic (North Riding Senior Cup)

Match Report

Deano! Deano! Deano! That was the sound which reverberated around the KGV Stadium on Tuesday night as Guisborough Town fans chanted the name of their hero goalkeeper Robert Dean who pulled off THREE world class penalty saves to clinch a memorable North Riding Senior Cup (NRSC) victory for his side.

In an incident-packed game, the impressive Priorymen did enough to have won the game in normal time – but after 90 hard-fought minutes it ended level at 1-1 to send the match into penalties.

The spot kick shoot-out started disastrously for Guisborough as their normally reliable penalty-taker Callum Martin skied his kick way over the bar. Another Guisborough defender, James Frazer, also launched his spot kick wildly skywards.

But in between Dean pulled off two fantastic saves at full stretch and after Jason Blackburn, Matty Tymon and Jack Bailey had despatched their spot kicks to put Town 3-2 ahead on penalties it came down to Scarborough’s final kick.

Unbelievably, Deano dived to pull off yet another stunning and decisive save and put his side through to a plum Semi-Final home tie against Whitby Town (date to be arranged).

Earlier in a high-tempo and high-calibre first half, Guisborough had deservedly taken the lead on 32 minutes when Matty Tymon put his skipper Jordan Fielding through on goal and he composed himself before slamming the ball home for 1-0 to the Priorymen.

However, Scarborough drew level in the 39th minute when they were awarded what most in the crowd felt was an extremely ‘soft’ penalty but up stepped Francis Mulhearn to score with a low, hard shot into the far left corner.

BACK ON LEVEL TERMS!

So the teams went in 1-1 at half-time – but Scarborough must have felt relieved to have got back on level terms.

Guisborough failed to maintain the same high standards in the second half with far too many passes and attempted through-balls being over hit and failing to create any real danger for Scarborough.

But on the hour mark, Guisborough got an unexpected boost as Scarborough were reduced to 10 men when Dominic McHale was sent off for a second yellow card after a crude tackle on Guisborough winger Kurt Howes.

That gave Guisborough their second wind but try as they might the Priorymen were unable to force a winner and so the dramatic penalty shoot-out followed immediately after normal time ended.

‘GREAT NIGHT FOR THE LADS AND CLUB’ – STEVE BELL

After the game a cock-a-hoop Guisborough Manager Steve Bell commented:

This has turned out to be a great night for the lads and the Club. I thought we started the game really brightly and probably should have gone ahead earlier than we actually did.

But we were really disappointed with the penalty decision that went in their favour. We thought it was really soft to say the least. So after coming in 1-1 at half-time my message to the lads was not to come back in at full-time as ‘unlucky losers’ because I felt the game was there for us to win.

Penalties is always something of a lottery but tonight we had ‘Deano’ and they didn’t – it’s as simple as that! On the whole, however, I thought we edged the game and deservedly went through to the Semi-Final.

We now have a tough game at Whickham this coming Saturday – but you can’t beat that winning feeling.

The NRSC match against Scarborough Athletic attracted a superb crowd of 409 and the win extended Guisborough’s current unbeaten run to a hugely impressive nine matches.

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Before kick-off, a special presentation of a bumper cheque for £1,560 was jointly made on behalf of Guisborough Town to the Great North Air Ambulance charity by Club President Don Robinson and Head of Club Development Craig Hignett.

The money was raised at a recent Club Charity night – yet another glowing example of Guisborough Town’s strong commitment to the local and regional communities. The charity has had a special place in Don’s heart for several years now and he has raised thousands of pounds in previous seasons for the Great North Air Ambulance.

Report: Bill Perfitt