Match Report

West Allotment make it three away defeats in a row by narrow 1-0 margins for the Priorymen

West Allotment Celtic 1, Guisborough Town 0

(Northern League – Division One)

Guisborough Town suffered their third successive defeat – all agonisingly by a 1-0 margin – when they travelled to Celtic’s permanent new home at Morpeth Town last night.

Once again, Guisborough’s main shortcoming was in attack where they were glaringly ineffective in the final third – a situation made worse by main remaining striker Sonni Coleman showing a disappointing lack of loyalty by leaving Town to join Blyth Town.

So Guisborough Manager Nathan Haslam had no option last night but to play winger Kurtis Howes as a central striker and it was clear – as Nathan has described it before – that it was another case pf having to play ‘square pegs in round holes.’

Lowly Celtic, with only one win under their belts so far this season, showed more determination than the Priorymen and ultimately deserved their victory thanks to a blistering Max Cowburn shot in the 17^th minute, looping the ball from 20 yards out beyond the reach of Guisborough ‘keeper Ryan Catterick.

From then on Guisborough huffed and puffed but their final third woes continued and apart from a couple of occasions when the West Allotment ‘keeper pulled off some excellent saves the Priorymen just didn’t have enough up front to get anything out of the game.

Once again a frustrated Guisborough Manager Nathan Haslam said bluntly:  “We got what we deserved again because we’ve just not been good enough in the final third.

“It was a really disappointing West goal from our point of view as we’ve given away a needless throw in and the ball has been worked inside and they’ve scored a good goal but we’ve not closed their scorer down.

‘SIDEWAYS AND BACKWARDS’

“It should not have happened because we were in total control of the game up to that point and it’s given them something to hang on to.  From that point onwards we’ve dominated the game but without causing them any real problems.

“It’s easy to play the ball sideways and backwards but you’ve got to be probing and you’ve got to break their defensive lines but we just didn’t play on the front foot and do exactly that.

“This is a little bit concerning because there’s a pattern emerging here and we’ve just got to hold our hands up as individuals tonight and say that we didn’t deserve to win because quite simply we weren’t good enough again in that final third.

“So I’ve got to reflect and analyse the game further but I think I know what I’ve seen.  There’s a message in the changing room that’s been consistent for quite a while now which is that we need to be better in a certain aspect of the game.

“When things go well for us and we stretch teams we are good because we know goals change games.

“What we’ve seen with West Allotment tonight is that they have defended for their lives despite the fact that we’ve thrown everything but the kitchen sink at them but we just haven’t been good enough to unlock the door.

“In previous games when we’ve scored goals and we’ve gone on the front foot but we need to play like that consistently right from the off.

‘IT’S ALL ABOUT OUR COLLECTIVE AS A TEAM’

“But it’s been disappointing lately not just because of the issues in the final third and it’s not just a case of pointing fingers at forward players this is all about our collective as a team – the midfield have got to close spaces down between the forwards and the back line have got to push the midfielders on but we’re not doing that and the gaps are too big.

“There’s a lot we still have to work and if truth be told it’s been there from the start of the season but the games come thick and fast and we can’t really work on this as much as we’d like to and so we’re learning on the job,” reflected Nathan.

He added: “We’ve not scored for four games in a row now but on the other hands we’ve not concede many either but yes overall it’s concerning and we’ve got to put it right.

“I don’t think you can say we’re in a crisis but the players and myself have got to reflect on things and for me it’s a very simple fix – it’s about being more proactive rather than reactive and anticipating balls and dictating play better.

“Clearly we need to work on things but we have a great chance to bounce back on Saturday at home to struggling Whickham and I want to see a reaction from the boys,” said Nathan.

In the game against West, Guisborough were the first to threaten in the 13^th minute when good footwork and a quality pass from Elliott Beddow found Kurtis Howes but his attempt to curl one into the bottom corner produced a good save from the West ‘keeper.

After West took the lead on 17 minutes through that Cowburn cracker of a goal, they 10 minutes later but for a brilliant save by Guisborough goalkeeper Ryan Catterick.

The West goalie was in action again in the 37^th minute when he pulled off a cracking save from a Josh MacDonald free kick just outside the West penalty area.

After half-time Guisborough made a tactical change bringing on Tom Birtles for Joe Pickett.

In the 57th minute Beddow narrowly headed over the West bar but as the second half wore on it was West who were gaining the upper hand.

And on 70 minutes, Guisborough left back Dan McWilliams kept his side in contention with two amazing goal-line clearance in quick succession – one a header on the line and the other a block, again right on the line.

Straight after this Guisborough skipper Joe Ferguson almost equalised with a superb 30 yard shot which clipped the foot of the far post then bounced clear.

Three minutes from time West hit the Guisborough bar with a fierce free kick from just outside the Guisborough penalty area and 1-0 to the home side was how it ended in front of a paltry crowd of 62, with Guisborough’s faithful travelling fans making up around a third of that total.

Report by Bill Perfitt