Guisborough Town 3-0 Whitby Town

Match Report

Guisborough Town brought the curtain down on their tough pre-season programme with an absolutely rousing victory over seaside neighbours Whitby Town at the Kevin Edward KGV Stadium on Saturday.

The incredible and thoroughly deserved 3-0 scoreline against a team from two leagues higher than Guisborough’s own Northern League was fully deserved by the Priorymen.

So Guisborough carried off the annual Micky Skinner Memorial Trophy to add to the John Butterfield Memorial Shield they retained against Marske United the previous weekend to round off a highly successful pre-season programme.

After going in 1-0 up at half-time the Priorymen proceeded to almost completely dominate the second half and were full value for the additional two goals they added – and it could easily have been more for rampant Guisborough!

Whitby’s visiting supporters and officials looked shell-shocked – and somewhat relieved – by the time the final whistle sounded.

Guisborough Manager Nathan Haslam could hardly conceal his delight at the result and performance against a side he had strong connections with a few seasons back.

REAL APLOMB!

After the game, Nathan commented: “Yes, I’m very happy with the boys. I said after the Redcar Town game that the objected was to step up another gear and I think we’ve done that with real aplomb!

“Also, when you think that on paper we were severely weakened with several senior players who would have been in the starting line-up ruled out injured.

“So we were without the likes of Joe Pickett, Jason Blackburn, Joe Ferguson, Josh Macdonald and even our latest new signing Sonni Coleman who is currently side-lined.

“Taking all this into account, I think it shows the depth and how well we performed along with the attitude of the players.

IMPRESSIVE COMBINATIONS

“We were very physical today, but with that physicality came some very patient football. We picked our moments with some impressive combinations and some great switches and ultimately we created some excellent chances.

“If truth be told, we probably should even have had a few more goals for want of better finishing really.

“It was a good way to end pre-season but now we look ahead to the serious challenge of Easington away in our opening league fixture next Saturday and that’s where we will be judged next.

“We now need to transfer our performances throughout pre-season and especially against Whitby yesterday into next Saturday and beyond.

“Easington are a very experienced Northern League side – they know all the dark arts of the game so it won’t be an easy start for us but we’ll go there and do our best,” declared Nathan.

In the game itself against Whitby, after a fairly even opening half hour Guisborough stormed ahead in the 39th minute with a beautifully worked goal down the right flank.

The hard-working Connor Gant and Elliott Beddow combined brilliantly resulting in a superb cross which found Muzzy Abdullahi in the middle and he steadied himself before firing brilliantly into the far right hand corner of the Whitby net for 1-0 to the Priorymen.

The nearest Whitby came in the whole game to scoring was a superb shot from Aaron Haswell which Guisborough ‘keeper Ryan Catterick – standing in for the unavailable Robert Dean – dived to tip brilliantly around the post.

ELLIOT’S STUNNER!

Guisborough had to wait until the 79th minute before they deservedly doubled their lead when a Ben Errington shot was deflected to Muzzy who pulled the ball back for defender James Frazer to fire home into the bottom corner.

Guisborough’s third goal in the 85th minute was an absolutely beauty and added a fitting crowning glory to a memorable victory.

The Priorymen were awarded a free kick about 10 yards outside the Whitby penalty area and Beddow deliberately measured his kick brilliantly to curl a stunning shot into the top right hand corner. Absolute class!

Overall, then, much to enthuse about in a terrific team performance from Guisborough with every single player making stand-out contributions. There was an impressive late subs’ showing from 17 year-old Jaedon Faulkner who showed a steely determination well beyond his years.

The attendance was another very healthy 262 which bodes well for the season ahead at the Kevin Edward KGV Stadium.

Report: Bill Perfitt