Guisborough Town 1, Penrith 2 (Northern League – Division One)

GUISBOROUGH Town slid to a disappointing 2-1 defeat at home to Penrith at the KGV on Saturday as all the optimism generated by the previous weekend’s excellent 2-0 win at Redcar Athletic evaporated.

All the goal scoring was compressed into a frantic seven-minute period midway through the second half as the Cumbrians went ahead in the 68th minute, the Priorymen equalised three minutes later only for Penrith to notch the winner on 75 minutes. Guisborough pushed forward in a vain search of an equaliser for the next 15 minutes but it didn’t materials and the visitors went back home happy along the A66.

It was a bitter disappointment for Guisborough in front of their biggest home crowd of the season – 434, a figure swelled by additional spectators by virtue of the club’s sponsors’ day and another juniors’ day.

After an impeccably-observed minute’s silence for remembrance, the first 20 minutes of the game was highly entertaining and competitive with both sides carving out good chances and going close to breaking the deadlock. Guisborough right back Callum Martin shot wide in the first minute then a long-range Penrith shot was comfortably saved by Guisborough ‘keeper Robert Dean in the fourth minute.

On 12 minutes Dean saved Guisborough again with a superb save from Penrith winger Connor Shields and just a minute later Guisborough winger Ben Jackson hit a great shot but Taylor in the Penrith goal saved. In the 19th minute Shields was through on goal again but he shot weakly wide.

In the second half Penrith had the ball in the Guisborough net on 51 minutes but it was ruled out for offside. However, they made the breakthrough when Shields finally got his reward for his persistence in front of goal, blasting the ball into the back of the Guisborough net with the Priorymen appealing in vain for offside.

Young players from Guisborough Town’s Juniors Section line up before the match against Penrith at the KGV on Saturday, helping to make the occasion a real family affair

Young players from Guisborough Town’s Juniors Section line up before the match against Penrith at the KGV on Saturday, helping to make the occasion a real family affair

Only three minutes later, Guisborough stormed back level when skipper Charlie Marshall came up for a corner and sent a bullet-like header into the back of the Penrith net for 1-1. But Guisborough’s celebrations were premature as only four minutes later Jamie Armstrong lashed the ball home to give Penrith a 2-1 lead which they held on to until the end of play for a hard-earned victory.

After the game a clearly disappointed Guisborough manager Steve Bell said: "I’ve no complaints about the result to be honest. We have some very good players who for one reason or another were not available to us today. But don’t get me wrong we had enough talent out there on the pitch to have won this game without a doubt. To be fair, I was impressed with Penrith and just how hard they worked for each other. We need a big improvement for our next game away to Sunderland RCA this coming Saturday.”

Guisborough Town presented the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) with a cheque for £2,000 last week, the proceeds from a highly successful charity concert held at the KGV Priory Suite last month. The event, featuring top Teesside band The Cadillacs, was the first major fund-raising initiative Guisborough Town had organised since lockdown. Some £1,800 was raised on the night from the various fund-raising activities including raffles and a tombola. As a further gesture of goodwill, Guisborough Town FC topped the final amount up to the £2,000 mark.

Guisborough Town club president Don Robinson was particularly delighted with the money raised as he was a key driving force behind the event, with the GNAAS one of his favourite charities. Guisborough Town's recently-appointed chairman, Andy Willis said: "We were delighted to hold this event to raise much-needed cash for the GNAAS. They are a superb charitable organisation which provides a vital life-saving service for potentially the whole community in the Teesside region and wider."