Hard-working hosts Whitby Town sunk by Guiseley’s last-gasp strike
Northern Premier League football made a comeback at the Towbar Express Stadium as Whitby Town welcomed Guiseley in a crucial game for Nathan Haslam, who finds himself in the spotlight after a disappointing start to the campaign.
Whitby, looking to bounce back after Saturday’s 5-1 thumping at Ilkeston, had two changes made to the starting 11 by Haslam as Gary Liddle and Jake Charles replaced Jassem Sukar and Aaron Haswell, writes Will Berwick.
Whitby got proceedings underway and looked the stronger of the two sides, coming out of the blocks in the early exchanges. A near post corner delivery from Priestly Griffiths found the head of Liddle who saw his effort nestle the side netting.
Town took an early lead as Charles received a fantastic lofted through-ball from Lewis Hawkins. The ball landed perfectly in front of the marksman, returning after a spell away on compassionate leave, who ruthlessly put the ball past Joe Cracknell before celebrating with his late father in his thoughts. Charles’ goal was emotional as he pointed to the sky and was surrounded by the whole squad showing their support to the striker.
The goal woke Guiseley up as they immediately had the hosts pinned in, repeatedly asking questions of them defensively. Whitby sat back and allowed Guiseley to dictate play but the hosts did enough to hang on and make it to half-time 1-0 up.
Guiseley got proceedings back underway for the second half and struggled to create any clear-cut chances due to Whitby sitting in a low block, understandable given their recent defensive struggles.
It was Charles who came closest to scoring next. Alfie Doherty's great pressure forced a Guiseley defender to misplace his pass, allowing Charles to gain possession of the ball. Unfortunately, his shot hit the post, and the score remained with just the one-goal cushion for the Seasiders.
Guiseley quickly equalised shortly after, hitting the hosts with a fast counter-attack which caught Whitby off guard. Although Liddle made a superb block on the initial Guiseley shot, the rebound fell straight to substitute Joe Ackroyd, who tapped the ball into the net from close range with virtually his first touch.
The game became open after the equaliser as Whitby seemed to abandon the defensive low block and push for a winner. Town created some good chances but couldn’t test Cracknell in Guiseley’s goal.
It was Guiseley who appeared more dangerous after the equaliser, continuously catching Whitby out through quick counter attacks.
Whitby seemed to have secured a hard-fought point, but a long throw-in from Guiseley into Whitby’s penalty area led to a goalmouth scramble that resulted in the visitors grabbing a last-minute winner through Ollie Brown.
Reflecting on the defeat, Haslam said: "The goals conceded weren’t sloppy as such, they didn’t carve us open and we limited them to shots from distance on the whole.
"The boys ran their socks off. I can’t admire them anymore but one thing that’s telling is we have a lot of players who are tired and struggling at the moment.
"We didn’t have the substitutes to bring on. It was only really Aaron Haswell that I could turn to in a bid to try and affect the game and they have brought five subs on which has ultimately won them the game."