GUISBOROUGH Town players and fans were left feeling much aggrieved last Friday night when a hotly-disputed penalty awarded against the Priorymen in the 93rd minute of their match at Bishop Auckland ruined their brave comeback from a two-goal deficit.

After a keenly contested goalless first half in which an energetic and busy Bishops side hustled and bustled Guisborough out of their stride, the Priorymen found themselves 2-0 down within 10 minutes of the start of the second half.

First, Liam McPhillips put through his own goal in the 53rd minute as he tried to head clear in the Guisborough penalty area. Then, barely 60 seconds later, Guisborough went further behind when Adam Nicholls shot home powerfully.

The goals spurred Guisborough into some concerted attacking action at last and Kurt Round, Danny Earl and Luke Bythway all went close to pulling a goal back. As Guisborough swarmed forward, they reduced the arrears to 2-1 in the 73rd minute when Bythway lashed the ball smartly into the net after he cut in from the left.

It was all Guisborough as Bishops began to wilt under almost incessant pressure and, to the delight of the travelling fans, the Priorymen drew level in the 77th minute when they won a free kick just outside the penalty area. Up stepped left back Danny McWilliams to curl a superb 20-yarder into the right-hand corner of the net.

Both sides pressed for a winner and, as the game went deep into added time, McPhillips appeared to make a brilliantly-timed tackle on Bishops winger Thompson as he sprinted into the Guisborough penalty area. But referee Dean Hume controversially awarded the home side a penalty.

Nicholls gave Guisborough keeper Nick Liversedge no chance with his spot kick into the left corner to register his second goal of the night and give his side a last-gasp 3-2 win they hardly deserved.

When the final whistle blew seconds later, there were protests from Guisborough players, officials and fans, but it was clearly too late to change anything.

Disappointed Guisborough manager Chris Hardy said: “The opening half proved to be a frustrating one, with our opponents having the better of the exchanges. The second half promised better things, but no sooner did we re-start than we found ourselves two goals behind.

But this got the right reaction from our players and we went on to produce some good attacking football with real purpose and a cutting edge."