Jarrow Roofing 3 Guisborough Town 4

GUISBOROUGH Town chalked up their third win of the season against Jarrow Roofing when they staged a superb second-half revival to win a thrilling game 4-3.

The Priorymen had previously beaten Jarrow twice, in the league and league cup, and were seeking a hat-trick of successes against the Roofers last Saturday.

But Jarrow had other ideas and they surged into a 1-0 lead after just 90 seconds when the Guisborough defence was caught napping as James Fairley raced on to a through pass, cut in from the wing and lifted the ball cleverly over the onrushing Guisborough keeper Nick Liversedge into the corner of the net.

Jarrow held on to the lead for the rest of the first half despite intense Guisborough pressure, but Guisborough drew level seven minutes into the second half when Curtis Round shot home from 16 yards just inside the post after an impressive passing move in and around the Jarrow penalty area.

In the 61st minute, Jarrow regained the lead when the impressive Fairley showed admirable determination to latch on to the ball in the Guisborough penalty area. As he weaved his way across goal, he swivelled smartly to rifle the ball into the left-hand corner of the net.

Guisborough still looked threatening, but had to wait until the 77th minute before Steve Snaith seized on a superb Gary Wood cross to drill the ball home to make it 2-2. Just over a minute later, Guisborough took the lead for the first time when substitute Connor Smith latched on to a great pass from Jon Helm to shoot home clinically.

In the 84th minute, Guisborough stormed into what looked like an unassailable lead with a tremendous second goal from Round, who lashed home sublimely just inside the post from about 20 yards out.

But just when it looked like the three points were safely secured, Jarrow swept back into contention in the 87th minute when Fairley completed a superb hat-trick, lifting the ball cleverly over Liversedge.

With only seven minutes left, including time added on, the Priorymen endured a nervy ending as substitute Paul Roddam blocked a shot before Liversedge managed to smother a goal-bound effort by substitute Paul Chow.

After those two late scares, Guisborough managed to hang on for a memorable 4-3 victory.

After the game, Guisborough boss Steve Dowling said: “Ultimately, this was a very decent result after we had started slowly. We grew into the game after conceding a poor early goal and I thought we dominated the first half overall, creating no fewer than ten chances, but failing to score.

“In the second half, we continued to dominate, conceded another sloppy goal, but showed good character to go 4-2 up after Connor Smith's introduction changed the course of the game.”

The hard-earned three points further cemented Guisborough's third place in the table, but there was sympathy for Jarrow's terrific winger Fairley, who scored a brilliant hat-trick, but still saw his side finish the game empty-handed.