Junior soccer

Guiseley U-15s 7

Guiseley Under-15s have as many as four games to make up on some of the clubs at the top of the Craven League and they are now under pressure to complete fixtures before the end of April.

Some matches are being played despite conditions not favouring their open, flowing style of football. Nevertheless this proved a more than convincing victory, helped by a hat-trick from Will Stubbs, solid defending by the central pairing of Ben Webster and Paddy Clough, and excellent creative play in midfield by Lewis Blakey, Joe Roper and James Turner.

It was midway through the first-half before Guiseley scored their first goal, when Sean Mitchell crossed for Stubbs to fire home. A few minutes later Tom Stephenson floated a free- kick in for Stubbs to head in a second, then James Turner stormed through and finished well for the third.

After the break Andy Simmonds set off on a great solo run and rode a succession of tackles before finishing in style. He almost repeated the feat soon after, only for his final shot to be pushed round the post.

In similar style Lewis Blakey ran almost the length of the pitch and was unlucky not to score but soon after he made amends when he broke away and netted well after defying the off-side trap.

A Joe Roper piledriver was denied by acrobatic goalkeeping - Joe is sure to score a spectacular goal one of these days. Tom Stephenson soon made it six goals with a lovely finish, driving the ball in from 20 yards.

It only remained for Stubbs to complete his hat-trick and when James Turner crossed to him in the box he turned two men to squeeze the ball in at the far post.

Burley U-9s 1

Wilsden U-9s 0

BURLEY Under-9s hosted a much improved Wilsden and gained a hard-fought 1-0 victory in their final league match. In perfect footballing weather Burley were up against a well-organised and disciplined team.

Burley gradually gained the ascendancy in midfield due to the tireless efforts of Ben Chew, Ben Cunnington and Thomas Scott, who won the Man-of-the-Match award for his determination, ball control and penetrating runs.

In attack George Ross was full of running and linking wel, but his shots were blocked or close misses.

Persistent close range pressure from Caitlin Williams broke the deadlock at the start of the second-half when she stabbed the ball over the line in a crowded goalmouth.

As the match wore on, Burley were putting together some excellent passing moves as they tried to prise open the Wilsden defence but they were hard to break down and their 'keeper was in fine form, and his long clearances posed a constant threat.

Nevertheless, the Wilsden attacks were well dealt with by the Burley defence of Sam Westerman and Aron Kelly, with 'keeper Oliver Gillatt Jones barely troubled.

Burley are top of the league with 46 points after completing all their matches (played 18, won 15, drawn one, lost two).

They may yet be overtaken by Otley who are nine points behind but have four games in hand, but in any case they have had an excellent season and manager Garry Scott is very proud of their efforts.

Gremlins U-14s 1

Hotshots U-14s 4

MENSTON Hotshots produced a good performance to win away in the cup in a well-fought game against Guiseley Gremlins.

James Gilhooley, Jonathon Howe and Jeremy Barraclough all played well with Man-of-the-Match Christian Cooke outstanding.

Hotshots' goals were scored by Rory McPhee, Joe Hendrie, Michael Kelly and Dario De Vito after good work from Tom Lee, Danny Owens and Nick Keinhorst.