Two sent off as Guisborough suffer narrow defeat at Newton Aycliffe

GUISBOROUGH Town paid a heavy price in the final minute of their league match at Newton Aycliffe last Saturday when, to rub salt into the wounds of a 3-2 defeat, they had striker David Onions controversially sent off.

With Guisborough trailing by the odd goal in five and not giving up in search of an equaliser, a highly-competitive game reached boiling point in an 89th-minute flashpoint.

After a late Onions tackle left an Aycliffe player lying injured on the ground, a melee ended with Onions being shown a straight red card and Aycliffe left back Alan Harrison was also dismissed after receiving a second yellow card.

After the final whistle, Onions claimed he had been unfairly sent off for an alleged head butt and video footage of the incident seemed to back up the Guisborough striker’s case.

The game had started well for Guisborough when they took the lead after just two minutes when Paul Blake threaded a superb pass through to Mason McNeill, who brilliantly got the better of Harrison before beating onrushing home keeper Phillip Pentoney with a clinical finish.

McNeill went close to doubling Guisborough’s lead in the 24th minute when his shot cannoned off the woodwork. The move capped a fine period of play from Guisborough, but the home side drew level on 32 minutes when Aycliffe striker Jamie Owens cut inside and beat Guisborough keeper James Dawson with the outside of his boot to leave the ball nestling in the far corner.

Aycliffe went ahead just two minutes later when right back James Marley hit a shot from the edge of the penalty area which looped over Dawson and into the net.

Shortly before half-time, Guisborough central defenders Liam McPhillips and Lee Bythway clashed heads going for a high ball. Both needed lengthy treatment, with McPhillips having to leave the field for heavy bandaging to be applied to his head and while the Priorymen were down to 10 men, Aycliffe’s Ben Trotter exploited the gap in Guisborough’s defence to slot home from close range.

After the interval, McPhillips came out to battle on, but Bythway was unable to continue.

Guisborough’s injury jinx continued 10 minutes into the second half when Tom Bligh, who had been hurt in the first half, had to leave the field to be replaced by Steve Roberts, yet another Guisborough player coming back from serious injury.

But the introduction of Roberts sparked Guisborough’s attack back into life and he caused problems for the Aycliffe defence down the right flank, repeatedly getting beyond them and putting in some dangerous crosses.

It was no surprise when Roberts scored in the 72nd minute with a lovely angled shot after good work by another Guisborough substitute Ged Livingstone, who had replaced Bythway at half-time.

Play swung from end to end as Guisborough pressed forward in search of an equaliser, while Aycliffe’s fleet-footed forwards caused the Town defence problems on the counter.

In the 85th minute, Dawson saved his side with a superb one-handed save from former Marske winger Cory Nicholson. Then, in the 88th minute, more superb work and a great cross from Roberts set up Sam Orritt 10 yards out, but he couldn’t quite get hold of his shot cleanly and the ball went agonisingly wide as Aycliffe clung on to their slender 3-2 lead.

After the game, disappointed Guisborough manager Gary Forster said: “Despite the result, there were some positives for us from the match. I thought our back three were superb on a difficult pitch, but we lacked that killer instinct in the final third.”

It was tough on Guisborough to come away from the game empty-handed and they remain in deep relegation danger, eight points from safety.

Their next game is on Boxing Day, when they visit Marske United for an 11am kick-off.

Hebburn 0 Northallerton Town 2

TWO first-half goals were enough to give Northallerton all three points when they travelled to Hebburn last Saturday.

Town had lost the services of Matthew Lovatt, who had joined Guisborough, but were strengthened by the arrival of former Norton captain Marcus Laing.

Town started brightly and both Richard Walker and Liam Jarvie tested the home keeper, but they had no goals to show for their efforts as the game reached the midway point of the first half.

Nicky Martin then brought a fingertip save from the keeper before a long ball forward by Shaun Hudson found the chest of Martin, who cushioned the ball into the path of Walker, whose shot lacked power and direction.

Neat interplay between Martin and Walker then forced a corner from which Martin prodded the ball into the net to give Town a deserved lead in the 27th minute.

Northallerton keeper James Briggs had been largely unemployed, but he could only look on in amazement when a shot from distance cannoned back off the crossbar.

Andrew Shepherd did well to intercept a ball before neat and effective play created a shooting chance for Jarvie, who found the keeper's midriff.

Town extended their lead in the 42nd minute when a corner from the right fell to Stephen Cheeseman, who swivelled and hit a vicious shot which found the back of the net like a bullet from a gun.

Town had played sustained possession football throughout the half and fully deserved their half-time lead.

Northallerton started the second half with the same personnel, but had to withstand pressure from Hebburn in the initial exchanges before Martin went close again with a shot across goal from an acute angle.

Hebburn were forced to shoot from distance as the well-organised Town defence exerted their dominance, but Briggs was called into action when he dived at the feet of an attacker and then pulled off a wonder save to tip the ball round the post from a direct free kick on the edge of the box.

Town came under a bit of late pressure before a mazy run up the touchline by substitute Mark Sims nearly put the icing on the cake, but his shot was deflected past a post.

Northallerton had been organised throughout and richly deserved the three points, with the defence playing their part in keeping a deserved clean sheet.

Northallerton Town: Briggs, Shepherd, McLachlan, Cheeseman, Jones, Jarvie, Jackson, Owen, Martin, Walker, Hudson. Subs: Sims, Laing, Keogh, Kerr, Sowerby.