Guisborough Town 4-1 Tow Law Town

Match Report

Guisborough Town atoned impressively for their disappointing Boxing Day defeat against Boro Rangers with a convincing 4-1 win at the Kevin Edward KGV Stadium on Saturday against lowly Tow Law Town.

The Lawyers as they are nicknamed, were reduced to 10 men after the 16th minute deserved sending off of Leon Scott for an ill-disciplined ‘swing and a miss’ at Guisborough winger Kurtis Howes.

In fact, Tow Law were further handicapped in the aftermath of the red card flashpoint when skipper Liam McNamara was ‘sin binned’ for 10 minutes for dissent – leaving them with only nine men on the field of play.

And how the Priorymen made them pay as it took Guisborough only five minutes later to capitalize and open the scoring when striker Max Craggs got in a perfect glancing header from a peach of a cross by Dan McWilliams to put his side 1-0 up.

To their credit, plucky Tow Law were making a mockery of their second from bottom league position and their numerical disadvantage when they drew level two minutes before the half-time break with a sweeping move which carved Guisborough wide open and ended with Louis Salkeld rifling the ball home for 1-1.

It looked like it was going to finish all-square at the interval, but Guisborough’s midfield dynamo Joe Pickett had other ideas!

In the first minute of time added on, ‘The Pick’ advanced purposefully onto the Lawyers’ goal and unleashed a shot from 20 yards which looked like it was going wide but the ball crept just inside the left hand post for 2-1 to Guisborough at the break.

In the second half the Priorymen pressed their depleted opponents strongly and it was no surprise when they went 3-1 up in the 57th minute when the ball pinged about in the Lawyers’ penalty area before Matty Crust headed back across goal for Craggs to head home his second goal.

MEASURED BALL

In the 62nd minute Guisborough winger Kurtis Howes deservedly got on the scoresheet to make the score 4-1 to the Priorymen.

Once again McWilliams was the provider with a well-measured through ball which found Howes who hooked the ball into the back of the net after determinedly beating the Lawyers ‘keeper to the ball.

That’s how the scoreline stayed to the end although Craggs came incredibly close to clinching what would have been a thoroughly well-deserved hat-trick when he hit a low, hard shot but the Lawyers’ ‘keeper managed to dive at full length to tip clear via a post.

After the game, a naturally delighted Guisborough Manager Steve Connolly commented:

We had felt a wee bit hard done by to lose against Boro Rangers, so they desperately wanted to go out and get the win today.

Circumstances in the first 10 to 15 minutes of the game probably helped us but when they needed to put Tow Law to the sword so to speak they’ve gone and done that.

I’m really happy with the way the boys managed the game in a quite professional manner. It’s not easy to play against 10 men and they made it as difficult as possible for us, digging in and staying very compact and becoming a breakaway team.

And when they equalised it just showed that kind of threat on the counter that they had. But for us to score through Joe Pickett so soon after their equaliser was what won us the game – there is absolutely no doubt about that.

And it made our half-time team talk very different and we told the boys to go out and do certain things in the second half and that we will win the game especially with them being down to 10 men and tiring. Overall it was a really good response by the boys.”

Steve paid tribute to two-goal Max Craggs who has had to adapt to being a striker instead of midfielder due to injuries and unavailability issues.

“Max is a fantastic header of the ball but I told him he should have scored three,” teased Steve. “He’s done a really good job for us, his all-round play for us has been fantastic and I’m really pleased for Max,” added Steve.

GUISBOROUGH BOSS PAYS TRIBUTE TO SKIPPER CAL

The Guisborough boss also paid rich tribute to team skipper Callum Martin, returning from injury. “Cal was very good – his energy up and down the pitch was really exceptional for a lad who’s only had one start in the last two and a half months so it was great to have him back and pushing up the pitch like he did,” added Steve.

He was also pleased to get the whole subs’ bench involved in the game later on when often it’s not always possible to give every member of the squad a run out.

Despite the disappointment of the defeat against Boro Rangers, there was another very healthy KGV crowd of 310 for the game against Lawyers and the three points earned have put the Priorymen right back into the play-off mix.

An unusual feature of the game was that all three match officials were female – and they deserve a lot of credit for the firm and fair way that they officiated.

And they get an early opportunity to avenge the Boro Rangers defeat as they travel across Teesside to meet them in the return match next Saturday, 4 January (KO 3pm). Another win there would really re-ignite Guisborough’s title and play-off aspirations.

Report: Bill Perfitt
Photos: Dan Clark