Shildon 1-1 Guisborough Town

Match Report

Guisborough Town Manager Steve Bell was full of praise for his side’s “outstanding” performance as they more than matched table-topping Shildon on Saturday to emerge with a well-deserved point.

After the game a delighted Steve commented: “The lads were outstanding in slippery conditions today and some of our football was brilliant.

“I told the lads in the dressing room afterwards that I hoped they had some slight disappointment in spite of how superbly they played.

“Shildon had the last 10 minutes of the game during which to be honest we had to hang on a bit but I also told the boys not to forget the previous 80 minutes during which we dominated them and did enough to actually win the game. In the end it was a case of two points dropped – we played that well,” added a proud Steve.

Before the game, Shildon had a super-impressive record of 11 league wins out of 13 with 45 goals scored and only four conceded – so for the Priorymen to go toe to toe with the league’s best side and give them one almighty run for their money was an indication of just how good their footballing display was.

Both sides emerged from the game with huge credit after a non-stop, full-blooded end to end contest. Shildon were fortunate to go in 1-0 up at the interval when they sliced through the Guisborough defence in the 32nd minute and Luke Spalding found the back of the net with the help of a deflection.

It was harsh luck on the Priorymen for just a minute earlier they thought they had taken the lead themselves when skipper and talisman Callum Martin put over a vicious in-swinging corner. It evaded everyone in a crowded Shildon penalty area to nestle in the back of the far corner of the net.

Inexplicably, however, the referee disallowed the goal for an infringement which nobody in the Guisborough team or their sizeable band of followers saw anything wrong with. It was cruel on Guisborough to go in at half-time 1-0 down as they had surprised their opponents with the standard of their play but once again some excellent approach work wasn’t converted into goals.

‘STONEWALL PENALTY’

In the second half, as the rain lashed down, Guisborough finally got their just reward when they pulled level in the 57th minute when they were awarded a ‘stonewall’ penalty. It was won brilliantly by winger Kurt Howes who was taken down in the penalty area as he rounded Shildon ‘keeper Mark Foden.

Up stepped Guisborough centre forward Sonni Coleman to take the spot kick and although he hit it well enough it was blocked on the line by Foden.

But at last the Priorymen got the slice of luck they richly deserved when they ball that Foden saved rebounded perfectly to Coleman who made no mistake with a firm header into the back of the net. In the closing stages Guisborough had to withstand some intense Shildon pressure and they almost scored a winner in the 90th minute when a cross into the Guisborough box was headed on to the bar from close range and unbelievably the rebound was put wide when it would have been easier to score.

In the final minutes of time added on Guisborough goalkeeper Robert Dean showed his value to the side with two particularly good saves. Overall, this was a superb team performance by Guisborough from which every single player emerged with great credit. Difficult to single out individual players but central defenders James Frazer and Alex Nelson deserve special praise as does Lewis Green who was terrific in midfield.

The match attendance was 338. Guisborough have a welcome break now with no game in midweek and their next match is at home to Crook Town next Saturday, 11 November.

Report: Bill Perfiit