West Allotment Celtic 3 – 2 Guisborough Town

Match Report

Virtually just one man stood between Guisborough Town and a handsome win for the Priorymen at West Allotment Celtic on Saturday.

Celtic’s saviour was their goalkeeper Finlay Hodgson who was in inspired form, pulling off a string of brilliant saves in both halves to deny the Priorymen a hatful of goals.

And then as happened in the first half, with only three minutes of the match remaining West scored a third breakaway goal which clinched an unlikely 3-2 win for the hosts which even their own officials admitted was very tough on Guisborough.

After the game, a gutted Guisborough Manager Steve Bell commented:  “I’m not going to lie – this defeat today was a tough one to swallow.

“We dominated for so much of the game and then suffered from a few counter-attacks which ultimately brought them the victory.

“If we had scored five or six goals today I don’t think West Allotment could have complained.  Their goalkeeper was in inspired form and foiled us almost single-handedly on so many occasions.

Steve added:  “I thought our players gave their all out there and to lose out like we did was a bitter pill to swallow,” added Steve.

In miserable, cold and wet weather, both teams soon warmed the spectators up with some quick-fire attacking football in the opening 15 minutes.

West Allotment forced two early corners which the Guisborough defence dealt well with and then the Priorymen went close with a Jason Blackburn free kick on the edge of the penalty area but his excellent effort was palmed for a corner by home ‘keeper Finlay Hodgson.

Meanwhile, at the other end Guisborough had a let-off in the 10th minute when defender Charlie Marshall got in a terrific block to prevent an almost certain West Allotment goal.

AGAINST RUN OF PLAY

In the 17th minute Guisborough went close when striker Louis Johnson got in a great shot but it was parried to safety by West ‘keeper Hodgson.

Two minutes later Guisborough went oh so close again when left back James Risborough put over a superb cross-cum-shot which was scrambled away on the line by a West defender.

But for all Guisborough’s pressure it was West who took an unexpected 22nd minute lead completely against the run of play when Liam Beeston fired home following a West raid down the left flank.

Undaunted, Guisborough continued to press forward and on 26 minutes defender Louis Hall joined in the attack and got in a good header which went agonisingly wide of the post.

Nine minutes later, however, Guisborough’s constant pressure finally yielded its just reward when Ben Jackson produced a great run down the left wing and crossed perfectly for Louis Johnson to stab the ball home for 1-1.

Four minutes later in the 39th minute a good long range shot by Blackburn went just over the West bar to ensure the score remained level 1-1 at half-time.

Guisborough started the second half off just as they had left the first swarming all over the West goal and the Priorymen took a deserved 2-1 lead in the 49th minute when Ben Jackson surged forward and smashed the ball into the roof of the net.

Guisborough continued to press forward in a bid to increase their lead and provide a two-goal cushion but first Jason Blackburn went close again on 51 minutes but his shot was blocked at point blank range by West ‘keeper Hodgson.

Just a minute later there was an unbelievable miss for the Priorymen when Johnson connected brilliantly at the far post with a partly-deflected cross but Hodgson in the West goal, having the game of his life, saved superbly yet again.

In the 75th minute Johnson put in a hard, low shot but Hodgson saved well once more – with a little more luck Johnson could have had a hat-trick.

SUFFERED THE UNTHINKABLE

Then after soaking up so much Guisborough pressure West mounted another breakaway in the 76th minute on the right and the ball was switched over to the left where the unmarked Matty Hayton slotted the ball home into an empty net for 2-2.

And just three minutes from time Guisborough suffered the unthinkable when West Allotment broke clear once again and Rui Martins hit a rasping 20 yard shot which evaded the desperate grasp of Guisborough ‘keeper Robert Dean and ended up in the back of the net for a shock 3-2 lead to the home side.

Overall, both sides put on a terrific footballing spectacle for the 70 fans present and Guisborough could count themselves desperately unlucky to lose out by the odd goal in five.  

West ‘keeper Hodgson was his side’s saviour with a string of superb saves to deny the Priorymen on numerous occasions.

Guisborough’s next game is another league match at home to Whickam at the KGV Stadium next Saturday, 18 December (KO 3pm).