Guisborough Town 2, Seaham Red Star 0 (Northern League – Division One)

GUISBOROUGH Town scored an important 2-0 win over bottom of the table Seaham Red Star at the KGV Stadium on Saturday to earn three vital points which propelled them up to eighth position in the league table.

It wasn’t a classic performance, but the true grit displayed by the Priorymen was justly rewarded even though several of the players were out on their feet with injuries as Guisborough finished the match with only ten players due to all their substitutions having been made.

Livewire midfielder Brad Plant typified the fighting spirit of the Guisborough team when he played out the last 15 minutes of the game with a severe bout of cramp – but he still managed to charge up the field in the 90th minute to score of peach of a goal to clinch all three points for his team. Apart from Plant’s cramp, Guisborough also lost two players with serious ankle injuries – Luke Smithyman, himself a substitute, had to be helped off the field five minutes from time and in the 55th minute Town defender George Waites had to leave the field following a heavy tackle.

Guisborough’s first goal came in the 19th minute from Steve Roberts, making his first full appearance of the season after himself nursing an injury from pre-season.

Earlier, Seaham had started the brighter with Guisborough right back Harry Ord saving his side with a brilliant tackle in the seventh minute and then three minutes later a linesman’s flag ended a promising Seaham move. After the Roberts opener the match swung from end to end with full commitment from both sides in what was developing into a very competitive encounter.

Seeing his team gaining a victory despite all the problems they had experienced was especially pleasing for Guisborough’s manager, Steve Bell, who said: “I know it wasn’t particularly pretty out there on the field today and but a win is a win and we’re delighted with the three points. The lads stuck to their task against a dogged Seaham side and in the end, I think we fully deserved our 2-0 victory.

“We had three or four players struggling with injuries in the end and we also had Steve Roberts and Scott Howes who have both been nursing injuries and we had to manage them carefully on their first full starts of the season."

The match attendance was 170 which, although disappointing, was not surprising, as Middlesbrough were playing at home in the first game of their season.