Guisborough Town 0 Washington 3

A SUCCESSION of missed gilt-edged chances in the first half cost Guisborough Town dearly as they lost their second successive home game against a Washington side reduced to 10 men after just 22 minutes.

The Priorymen played some superb attacking football in the first 45 minutes after the shock of going a goal down just two minutes into the game, but they were made to pay dearly for not taking advantage of some excellent approach play.

Washington – just one place below Guisborough in the table before the start of the game – took a shock lead when Town keeper Nick Liversedge appeared to be impeded when trying to catch a cross and the ball went loose to John Butler, who fired home from close range.

Undaunted, Guisborough surged forward with wave after wave of thrusting attacks on the Washington goal, but they had nothing to show for their efforts as the half-time whistle went. The best Guisborough chance fell to young Connor Smith in the 12th minute when he raced clear on to a defence-splitting through ball, but he was probably too unselfish as he tried to square the ball across goal instead of shooting himself and the chance was lost.

Two minutes later, Town’s leading scorer Danny Earl shot agonisingly over the bar from just a few yards out and just a minute later a Danny Earl cross found his strike partner Smith, but his shot was well-held by Washington keeper Josh Carmichael.

In the 22nd minute, Washington were reduced to 10 men when Ross Preston was red-carded when he clipped the heels of Smith as the Guisborough striker raced clear on goal. The referee had no alternative but to send off the Washington captain. From the resulting free kick, a Danny McWilliams special was tipped just over the bar by Carmichael.

On 33 minutes, Pete Bulmer's left-foot curler from the edge of the penalty area was well-saved by Carmichael and, five minutes before the interval, chance number six went begging when a sizzling Curt Round shot from a good position cleared the Washington bar.

In the second half, the nearest Guisborough came to getting back on terms was when a Smith lob eight minutes after the interval went just wide.

But the Priorymen couldn’t reproduce their earlier penetration and found it hard to break down a massed and well-drilled Washington defence. The visitors then hit Guisborough with a classic sucker punch in the 53rd minute when McWilliams chested a cross into the path of Butler, who made no mistake to score his second goal.

On the hour mark, Steve Snaith – pushed up front to try and add some zip to the home attack – appeared to be tripped in the penalty area, but instead of pointing to the spot, referee Simon Porter booked Snaith for allegedly diving, after consulting his assistant.

With four minutes to go, Washington rubbed salt into the wounds of the Priorymen when substitute Mark Davison scored following a breakaway move.

Despite the disappointing defeat, coming soon after the previous weekend’s first home league defeat against Bishop Auckland, Guisborough manager Steve Dowling refused to be too hard on his players.

He said: “I cannot be over critical of the players, who worked hard throughout the 90 minutes. We dominated the first 45 and should have had at least a goal or two to show for all our high-tempo pressure.

“In the second half a well-organised Washington team defended in numbers and we struggled to break them down. Then we were caught with a sucker punch second goal, which gave Washington even more to hold on to, followed by a third goal late on which killed the game for us.”

Guisborough face Marske in the league on Monday, kick-off 11am.