GUISBOROUGH Town’s wretched run of games without a win stretched to nine last Saturday as they surrendered a 1-0 half-time lead at Consett, who rallied strongly after the break to win 4-1.

The Priorymen are now firmly rooted to the bottom of the table, with defensive frailties again coming back to haunt them as they slipped to their eighth defeat in their last nine games, having conceded at least three goals in each of those matches.

Guisborough started reasonably well against Consett, restricting them to mainly long-range efforts.

Striker Matty Pennal, back from recent injury problems, managed to get the ball in the home net, only for a free kick to be awarded for a foul on Consett keeper Sam Guthrie.

Guisborough were creating good chances and striker Dave Onions almost added to the 100-goal milestone he reached a week earlier, but his shot was well-saved by Guthrie.

The Priorymen were finally rewarded two minutes from half-time when Thibault Charmey beat Consett defenders to a Chris Youldon through ball and squeezed the ball home beyond the reach of Guthrie.

But the Priorymen’s hard-earned 1-0 advantage lasted only three minutes into the second half. Lewis Teasdale won possession outside the Guisborough penalty area and sent over a perfect cross for Consett’s leading scorer Luke Sullivan to score his 20th goal of the season with a diving header on 48 minutes.

Consett took a 2-1 lead on the hour when Michael Sweet netted his 13th goal of the season following good work by Jordan Nellis. Just three minutes later, Consett surged further ahead when Sweet scored again to turn things distinctly sour for the Priorymen following more good set-up play by Nellis.

Consett got their fourth goal on 72 minutes when skipper Danny Craggs scored his 11th of the season to make it 4-1 to the home side.

In the 75th minute, Consett were reduced to 10 men when Teasdale was shown a straight red card for a bad tackle on Guisborough full back Harrison Scott, but the home side managed to see the game out and even had chances to add to their tally through Craggs and Sullivan.

After the game, disappointed Guisborough manager Steve Dowling said: “I thought the first half was quite even and to go in one up gave us something to hold on to and hopefully build on. But Consett equalised just minutes into the second half and we then spent most of the rest of the half defending.

"We then conceded a goal that looked offside, then an error resulted in a third goal for Consett, and although we battled hard against a good Consett side, we failed to make any real inroads.

“Two more injuries, to Liam McPhillips and Thibault Charmey, didn't help our cause. It was good to have Chris Youldon back, but we had to call on two 17-year-olds to go on the bench, which shows our squad is still not back to full strength.”

Tomorrow, Guisborough visit second-placed South Shields for what promises to be one of the toughest of league encounters for the hard-pressed Priorymen. The last time Guisborough enjoyed a victory was back in early October, when they beat Washington 3-1 at the KGV, but since then they have steadily deteriorated and they are already stumbling dangerously towards the relegation trapdoor.